Our alliance
by 360round
Summary: HIATUS Gaara just wanted to be closer to the different boy. How does one Kazekage go about the issue of love? GaaLee
1. Arrivals

**A/N**: AAAAAAARGH! I'M SO FRUSTRATED!!! Anyhow…So, I was sitting around, alone, and I started thinking. I mean, every decent Naruto author must have written a Gaara-centric angsty/romantic (I chose romantic, but maybe a tiny, tiny fraction of angst may be detected) fic, since he's such an interesting character and easy to bend without making him OOC (Maybe this isn't Gaara-centric, but Gaara's the main character). He is one of my favorites, too. I made a Konoha/Naruto-centric one with morning settings, so I figured this should be/start at night. And, Gaara's an insomniac, so he must be up. Yay, his non-existent sleep is making this so much easier for me. Also, this plot bunny kept bugging me, and I thought, well, I don't think I've ever read anything like this so let's do it.

**Disclaimer**:I don't really feel the need to say anything.Masashi Kishimoto made me sign a contract; never to try and steal anything he owned again since the time I grabbed Itachi and made a run for it. He was mad…

**Pairings**: GaaLee, snuggly, ShikaTema and mentions of some very minor implied SasuNaru, KanKiba and KibaHina too… ;)

**Warnings**: There will be a slightly silly plot. I guess the cussing must be M-rated, unfortunately. Shounen ai/yaoi. You have been warned. Don't like boyxboy, click the back button. Minor fluff. MAJOR SPOILERS if you haven't read till 247 in the manga.

**Notice**: This is a TWO-SHOT and it'll remain that way if no one asks for it to evolve into a multichap fic. Review and tell me, love it, hate it or if you wanna give me some pointers. Well… Itadakimasu!

**Notice II**: OMFGWTFBBRFFSLOLROFLBBQW00T!!! This chapter has been edited and fixed up by **Makayla**! Little darling. ;P

* * *

Gaara sat on the roof of the round Kazekage building in Sunagakure. The sun had just set, and the pink seeped away to be replaced with irrevocable black. The time would be somewhere around seven-ish, and there were still families crowding the streets.

The former Jinchūriki looked down at the city beneath him. Bits and pieces of the festival that had held place there two days ago were still visible. The usual dull sand-coloured houses sparkled with glints of rainbow-coloured confetti. Somewhere, underneath the sand dunes, used and unused fire crackers surely lay, and would scare the life out of the poor person stepping on it.

_We weren't at that festival, were we? We were in our office, working. We never have any fun, no… We never have any free time anymore. _

It was a long time ago since he'd had some time to himself. He never slept, of course, but he was always flooded with work, and though people thought he never did any paperwork, he did. Too much of it. There was never enough time to go slow, never time to relax. It was always "sign this", or "read that". He loved protecting the village, but solving petty, barely-worth-calling-disputes, disputes tested his patience.

GaAra rubbed his eyes and blinked. His sight adjusted to night-vision and he tried to recognize anyone walking down the streets. There was a battered-down old woman being dragged behind an obnoxious-looking kid like a doll. Three teen boys – no older than his self – checking out a blonde girl, who threw a flirtatious glance their way only to get snatched by the elbow by a rather rough-looking man. Two middle-aged women walking side by side, hands occupied with bags filled to the rim with groceries, chatting merrily.

It occurred to Gaara that, yes, he could see them, but he didn't know them. He would refer to them as the villagers and they would refer to him as the Kazekage. No face was really familiar. He wanted them to be, but some people in Sunagakure still shied away from him, even though Shukaku was gone.

_We didn't like Shukaku, did we? No, he kept pushing us around. We want control of our own body, don't we, Gaara-kun?_

In Konohagakure it was different. There, so many people would greet him with a hello. Sure, everyone here respected him and acted courteous towards him but there he was among friends, those who wanted to be with him.

He closed his heavily painted eyes and allowed his head to fall down, resting on his knees. The gourd on his back felt heavy, heavier than usual. Thinking of Konoha made him remember so many things; brought mixed feelings to his attention. The Chuunin exams six years ago. The attack on the Leaf Village. His defeat when battling Naruto Uzumaki in the forest, the very thing he had thought of as impossible.

So many memories.

Memories that were precious to him. His childhood was close to erased in his head; a past he wanted nothing to do with, that only brought pain to the surface. A past where even his siblings had shielded themselves from him and his monstrous ways. A past where he had been left to wallow further in his sorrow. How much of their actions had been theirs, and how much had been their father's influence, Gaara could never tell. It was unnecessary to open old wounds for something he dreaded to know anyhow.

The harsh wind blew sand around him and made his clothes dance.

The hours passed but Gaara didn't notice. There was something so peaceful in the air, numbing his senses. The streets were empty now. Everyone was probably home, spending the remaining hours of the day with their families.

Gaara was suddenly struck with an idea.

He jumped off the roof with cat-like grace and landed with a soft _'thud'_ on the ground. Walking at a fast pace, the red head made his way to the Kazekage office. There wasn't much time left of the nightly hours, but his preparations didn't have to take much time if he could just find the right documents in that damned achieve. How that achieve was organized, the redhead just couldn't understand. Nothing was where it supposedly could be. Alphabetically, theoretically, cross referenced, it was impossible to find anything.

Maybe he should get a new secretary. Satoshi tended to be a little less down to earth than most… creatures residing on the planet Earth. But he was so cute with his glasses and unusual blue hair…

"Now, little brother, pray tell. Why would you drag us here at this time of the day?" Temari asked sternly, directing her aquamarine gaze at her younger sibling.

It was six thirty on a Sunday. Gaara supposed he could endure some of her whining, but if she crossed the line he would have to force her to be quiet by intimidation. He wasn't proud of his ability to push his big sister off her high chair, but it was very useful. From one point of view – which Temari did _not_ share with him – she was only his subordinate and he was only the Kazekage.

"It must be something important, _right_?" Kankurou said, him too adopting the older sibling roll.

Gaara couldn't take his brother seriously, partly because Kankurou was always cracking inappropriate jokes and just wasn't a very serious person, and partly because even though the 'Kazekage' had sent for them this early, he still had his 'face paint' splashed across his face in that offensive purple color.

"Yes, I believe it is." Gaara paused, and lifted his hand, currently holding a scroll, for the remaining parts of his family to see. Believe it or not, with the help of seven sand clones he had found the document in a little less than five hours.

Kankurou stared at it while Temari's expression darkened somewhat, as if suspicious that the scroll contained some ancient summoning jutsu to call upon the forbidden element. That had only happened once, and that scroll had been burned almost as soon as it was found. Gaara would think Temari was a bit unnerved, because she had been on guard duty protecting the ancient forbidden scroll. Her nerves had failed on her because the whole village could be annihilated in the blink of an eye if she lost it to an enemy village.

"What is that?" It seemed the fan-wielding kunoichi had decided she was disapproving of the scroll, whatever the contents may be. She made a grab for it but a protective glove of hardened sand shielded the scroll.

"This is a document."

Gaara stuck the scroll down the leg holster of his left leg and zipped the pouch closed. Both of the Sand siblings refrained from trying to get more information out of him, deeming it an unnecessary action. Possibly because both of them could acquire severe injuries.

"It must be signed by the Fifth Hokage, currently located in Konohagakure. We will begin our journey there in one hour, and stay there for two days before departing again. We will meet up at the gates to double checking all packing in fifty minutes."

It wasn't a request, but it wasn't an order either. It was more of a fact, an afterthought.

Both of them lightened up when hearing their destination.

The insomniac silently congratulated himself. Of course he knew the siblings attachments to the other village. Kankurou had developed a rather peculiar friendship with a slightly obscene boy, what was his name…? The one Naruto defeated in the preliminary round during the Chuunin exams… Something about dogs so Inu… Inuzuka… Kiba Inuzuka. That was the one.

Gaara couldn't say he hadn't seen it coming. Those boys had so much in common it was almost ridiculous. Same lame, underage perverted humor, the same garish face-paint, (they even had similar colours!) and both of them preferred to fight a battle alongside with someone or something, may it be a dog or a puppet.

Also his older sister Temari; Gaara was surprised that she thought he actually didn't know she was 'secretly' dating that shadow wielder- and had been for the past two years. Also something really important must have happened maybe a month ago. She was so abnormally happy and content with everything around that time. You would have to be both blind and deaf not to see it.

Therefore, he pitied the Konoha shadow's friends, who obviously were oblivious to their love affair. Of course when Gaara had first worked it out, he had been so furious he had had to cancel all the Kazekage duties from that day and go out in the desert to let out some steam. In the sand, there was nothing he could – accidentally, or less accidentally – kill but the angering visions of his sister and that lazy shinobi.

After his little session of total rage, he came up with the conclusion that this Nara boy wasn't so bad after all. He was intelligent enough for two, and could come through when it really mattered (Naruto had been angry with the cloud gazer because of the Akatsuki battle with Hidan, so Gaara knew the story by heart). Fairly attractive, an excellent shinobi and he must have some other good social qualities too; otherwise Temari would have been done with him pretty quickly.

Back in his private bedroom, Gaara walked around and gathered things he would take with him to the Land of Fire. Mostly different changes of clothing and weapons. One particular full outfit in the closet riddled him. He could not remember buying it nor wearing it.

It was a black linen that by the looks of it would fit his slim frame quite snugly. Along with it hung a tie with red and black stripes, the knot already tied around the hanger's neck. In the tie knot hung a lacy object which Gaara guessed was a – again too tight for comfort – fishnet shirt with long sleeves.

Underneath on a hook hung a black pair of jeans that, with Gaara's measurements, would reach a little below his kneecaps and it'd restrict his movement quite effectively. They looked about three sizes smaller than every pair of pants he had ever owned. A black belt was already in it, with three rows of what looked like silver nails, and the pocket bulged a little. He reached in and tugged at the object, which apparently was more than one. Five bracelets looking much like the belt. Pushing the pocket down in the pants again, Gaara studied the outfit a while.

_We'd look __edible in that, wouldn't we, Kazekage-sama? _

As the Kazekage, it would be scandalous dressing that provocatively (because, no doubt, he'd look shockingly sexy in that). But in Konoha, he could be a bystander, a visitor, a villager. And he would want to catch the attention of a certain taijutsu expert shinobi. So after an impulse minute of thinking, he pressed the outfit down in his small backpack.

When the given hour was spent, the Sand ninjas met up at the gate. Temari immediately asked if Gaara had consulted with the counsel about his absence for a week. The younger simply slipped her a piece of paper which forced the kunoichi to stop interrogating about _anything _concerning their disappearance and to continue checking the packing.

The 10x7 centimeter note consisted all the information she could possible bug him about or try to use as a blackmailing option. Gaara had two month ago requested a week off to attend the yearly spring fair in Konoha, but had been caught up in serious matters at home. Kankurou had been found in a cave near the outskirts of the desert, heavily infiltrated with a spider like poison. He recovered quickly in the hospital bed and was up before diagnosed to be. A thorough investigation had been made, but all was for naught. There was no trace of the enemy ninja whatsoever.

But that week off was still available, and had been lying around in his top drawer in his bedside table. When that Konoha impulse kicked in, it was pleasant to already have been through the long and boring meetings about it.

"Okay. We're ready to go." Kankurou said, heaving his brown backpack onto his back.

Temari threw her red haired brother a teasing glance after checking his backpack.

"Glad to see that you're finally decided to socialize with normal people. I hope my birthday present will be of good use when roping your victim in."

She lifted her shoulder bag and slung it across her frame, turning to follow the middle child.

_So that's why we don't remember buying those clothes at all, isn't that right, Gaara-sama?_

He frowned. What kind of sister sets her brother up so that he can get laid? Definitely not normal ones.

_She's not young and tomboyish anymore. We wish she could be a bit less perverted and more naïve, we do. _

_

* * *

_

The thick clumps of trees slowly decreased into an opening.

Konohagakure. End destination.

And they'd made pretty good time too. A trip that would usually take at least seventy two hours only took fifty six. It was two hours after sunrise, so almost the whole day was theirs to spend on less important matters, such as socializing. Possibly because the person most authorized to boss the two older siblings around, Gaara, had been blazing his glare of death into their backs whenever they'd started slacking.

They had not liked it.

However, that was of little importance. Temari was going to chew him out for making them escort him anyhow. A great distraction for that was probably to give her some time to stroll around the village without the company of her siblings. Gaara could take a guess where she would go.

He would have to find a way to lure Kankurou away from her, he knew of Temari's beau too (although only because Gaara had told him). Naturally he was still more in the big brother mode, "You look at my sister, I break your back" and would not likely leave her side willingly knowing what she would undoubtedly do if left alone.

Maybe he could slip him a questionable large amount of money when Temari wasn't present. That would be an easy alternative, since he'd most certainly go out clubbing and drinking until he'd pass out... probably in a gutter… alongside that Inuzuka kid.

When they walked inside, they were greeted at the entrance by two men named Kotetsu and Izumo, which he faintly remembered from the Chuunin exams. At that time though, they had henged into teen boys instead of the grown men they were.

The three siblings walked on the village street towards the Hokage building under silence. Not that Gaara was uncomfortable, but the other two were probably itching to go away and enjoy their stay here with different people.

However, when they turned a corner, a lot of familiar faces stood in a group talking. Team ten: Shikamaru, the blond girl and the fat boy. With Naruto and Sasuke, verbally sparring- of course; that pink-haired medical kunoichi was there too, keeping them apart.

Gaara clenched his fists in fury, drawing blood.

_We don't like that girl, no, we don't like her. We could hate that girl, couldn't we, Kazekage-sama? We could kill that girl easily, couldn't we, Kazekage-sama?_

Kiba and the bug boy were there. The two Hyuugas was there, that girl Temari wasted in the Chuunin preliminary rounds was there, and… Rock Lee was there too, trying to convince Naruto and Sasuke not to start a fight in the middle of the village. Then he started to talk with Haruno Sakura, who laughed, landed a final punch on Naruto's head and resumed talking with Konoha's green beast.

That medical kunoichi was so close to him. Why was she, again? Why was that _ugly bitch_ so close to Lee? She wasn't worthy of breathing the same air he breathed.

_If we broke her spine, she wouldn't be so close to Lee anymore, would she, Gaara-kun?_

Gaara collected himself, feeling ashamed. He wasn't supposed to think like that. She was a human and was allowed to do whatever she wanted.

But if her bosom got any closer to Lee's chest he'd bury her in sand and crush her bones to a pile of dust.

Shikamaru was the one who noticed the Sand siblings first.

"Oi. Yo." was his hello, and a hand lazily rose in the air, supposedly to be a wave but apparently he couldn't muster enough willpower to do such an unnecessary thing.

All of them turned around.

"GAARA!"

"GAARA–SAMA!"

"YO, KANKUROU!"

The first one was of course Naruto, and closely after him… _Lee_. He still had his bowl cut, and he still had fuzzy eyebrows and he still wore that green suit, having added a green jacket on top of it. It was his facial features that had changed, been perfected. The chiseled face had grown into the haircut and all other wrong things fashion-wise to be beautiful. He just wished he'd call him 'Gaara' instead of feeling the need to add 'sama' so he wouldn't anger him. Or maybe he was this formal with everyone? The idea of that being the situation made Gaara, if possible, even more annoyed. He really wanted Lee to treat him differently than everyone else. Also, Gaara could tell Lee held back in the touching zone when it came to him too. Not that Gaara could actually blame him… When Lee had broken through his sand armor and kicked him during the preliminary rounds, Gaara had seriously tried to kill him.

The Inuzuka kid went up and started a conversation with his brother immediately, and Temari stood her ground against the very obvious impulse to go over to the shadow-nin. Gaara was pleased with both actions. Kankurou would now not need money to spend time with that dog boy, and Temari wasn't going to act like a school girl. Perfect.

"Gaara! Why are you here?" Naruto asked, bouncing up to him and giving him a hug. The redhead icily accepted the hug but did no movements to return the favor. One, because he wasn't that comfortable with people yet, though he was trying to be. Two, because a very faint pinkish hue had started spreading over a certain Sharingan-user's cheeks. So to keep himself out of any unnecessary battles he did nothing.

"I am here to deal with a few political issues with the Godaime." he answered, dusting something imaginary off his shoulder.

He shot his siblings a glance.

"You may spend the rest of the day here in whatever way you wish. You have hotel rooms reserved for you, but if you would prefer to stay the night somewhere else, that is acceptable." Gaara said, turning towards the Hokage building and started walking.

His older sibling seemed shocked at his implications, however the one with make-up took no notice and happily started talking to Kiba and Tenten. The kunoichi shrugged it off and went over to join the conversation going on between the team ten ninjas.

* * *

Temari had finally managed to escape the others along with Shikamaru without anyone taking notice. She was ecstatic when… well; Temari didn't get ecstatic, but at least thrilled when Gaara told them they were travelling to Konoha for a day. She was less pleased with the fact that she had a little more than twenty four hours to spend with her new _fiancé. _He had actually popped the question a month ago, but hadn't declared anything to their separate and shared friends yet, as they couldn't calculate their reactions.

But two things she still didn't understand. One; why had Gaara brought Kankurou and herself? It was now transparent that he knew about them (How much did he know?), and seemed perfectly fine about it. The fan wielding woman would have thought he'd go ballistic and plot a scheme to kill Shikamaru. But nothing. He had implied they could do whatever they wanted. And why did he bring Kankurou? Did her stoic little brother bring him just because it was unfitting socially to leave him at home, or did he have something going on too?

Two; what was that scroll? If it had to be signed by the Hokage, it must be something that would include both villages. They were already allies, so a treaty would be stupid. It couldn't be a gift of some kind, since it was something to sign, not to accept.

Temari shook her head in confusion and snuggled closer to her fiancé under the tree a little bit outside Konoha.

* * *

God, Kankurou had missed this.

They never visited Konoha enough. Guess Gaara got out of his hissy fit and decided to actually do something else but lock himself in his office and do paperwork. Fuck, he sat at least sixteen hours a day with those mountains of documents. He could let loose a little.

He took a big zip of the beer in his left hand and observed Kiba and that Hyuuga girl next to him. They were sitting so close, and the pale girl was blushing prettily, eyeing the ground. Kiba was laughing, probably over some joke he cracked. She put a hand on his arm, and a faint blush spread across the dog lover's cheeks. Why was it always that she was just above him? It wasn't fair. They may have been on the same team a few years ago, but him and Kiba had been through pretty much everything! It just wasn't fair! Kiba had told him they didn't start hanging out together a year after their team had been designed. She didn't have any interest in him before! Why now when Kankurou had finally…

Kankurou shook his head roughly. He was not thinking these thought at all. Nope.

This bar (the name was Buraindo Koigokoro) was always a great place to go whenever you wanted life to sparkle just a bit more. It was quiet and peaceful now, but at nightfall it'd turn into a dancing inferno. Of course, alcohol slowly destroyed your body, so Kankurou watched his drinks extra carefully. It was maybe a month ago since he'd gotten so drunk he couldn't walk on his own. But, luckily, Yuuichi had been there to drag his sorry ass home.

That had been one _sweet _night. Someone must have slipped something in his colourful drink, 'cause those things just didn't happen with just beer. Not that it really bothered him, since he was still alive and breathing. He suspected he might have gotten laid, but could not make out the fuzzy memories.

Now, he wondered what that scroll contained…

Those thoughts were quickly annihilated when Kiba grabbed him by the elbow, shouting something into his face sounding very much like gossip. He was so close. Kankurou felt sparks of electricity shoot up his arm.

But that must've been the alcohol.

Right.

Right?

Gaara walked out of the Hokage building, pleased. Not only had he managed to make a more compact treaty with the Konoha village, but he also succeeded in doing something nice for Temari, even though she didn't knew it yet. He often messed up; not knowing what would make the very different girl happy. But now he was sure he'd hit the sweet spot. This would make up for all the little things he should have done since… forever!

Tsunade-hime had been nice enough about it, almost eager.

The Kazekage had one copy of the document, while the Hokage had one in her archive which was a little tidier than his. Shizune-san was more organized than Satoshi, he could give her that. Their personalities were very alike, even though sometimes Satoshi could drift off into la-la land. He made up for than with his overly kind attitude. And even so, the blue haired boy in Suna was just a little bit easier on the eyes than the rough medi-nin.

Gaara spoke into the short distance radio fastened on his neck.

"Kankurou, Temari."

After a few seconds he got a mutual response; "Hai."

"My purpose for this trip have been finished and – "

A loud groan echoed throughout the radio speakers.

"No! I don't want to leave! We've been here an hour, Gaara! I don't want to leave! I won't leave. _You said_ we wouldn't leave – "

Gaara quickly lost interest in what his brother was guessing he was implying. Using his deathly tone, he said; "Kankurou."

His older brother stopped talking, but his heavy breathing could still be detected. He was out with Inuzuka then. Hn. Gaara would have to look further into that, because that guard dog could maybe be… unfitting to socialize with his brother in a more intimate way. He was too blunt and inconsiderate of others feelings.

_Yeah. And we're such genius__es when it comes to other people's feelings, aren't we, ne, Gaara?_

"If you wish to acquire knowledge of the document's contents, you will come to the hotel room we are currently residing in."

He guessed only Temari was curious enough to tear herself from whatever she was doing to come see the document. Something he had foreseen already and fitted his scheme perfectly.

Gaara strolled along the street, reaching the Sen Susuwatari Inn and did not receive his suite key, seeing as it was already in the hands of his roommate.

"Your companion is already upstairs." the old woman behind the counter added as an afterthought when he gave her a degrading look.

Gaara smirked. Of course she was. Where else?

He walked up and turned the bronze door knob and opened the door.

"The document. What was it?"

Temari had flown into his face, tone impatient and slightly red. Maybe she had hurried here a bit more than necessary.

Her younger brother held the scroll out for her, motioning her to take it. Ripping it from his hand, she opened it and began reading through it very slowly. The corners of his mouth went up ever so little.

"Think of it as a birthday present."

The document was rather long, so Gaara lost his patience and simply tore it from her hand and stuffed down in his leg holster.

"Hey! I didn't get to read the whole thing! What the hell does that thing mean?!"

Gaara smiled a very, very tiny smile.

"It enables marriage between our village and theirs."

Her jaw would have hit the floor with a '_clunk_' if she's been animated. Quickly, she collected herself and tried to stare him down, suddenly hostile. Gaara didn't stop smiling and she faltered slightly. You could almost see the cogs in her brain working.

Temari opened her mouth, and then closed it again.

Gaara blinked.

She inhaled deeply and seemed to gather her damaged image.

"But… Why would you do that?"

"Simple." He paused. "You want to, don't you?"

The Kazekage waited for his older sister to nod feebly. She kept staring at the leg holster on his left leg hiding the document. Gaara started to feel very insecure about his little initiative, though he didn't let her know that. The feeling that Temari wasn't happy with the gift started to creep into Gaara's veins, spreading throughout his body. What if she thought he was pushing her? What if she thought this was some kind of duty or mission he would force her into? He had not thought this through. She would be mad, she'd hate him, she'd run away, he'd be alone again. He couldn't be alone anymore. Why didn't he think this through?! There was just no way she would be happy about this! Temari liked to be in control of her own life, and hated it when people made decisions for her. She hated accepting things, gifts from others and giving nothing in return. She would go insane with rage. She'd hate him. God!

_Maybe we fucked up this time, do you think, Gaara-sama?_

"Gaara… I don't know what to say."

He'd be more comfortable if she had just ripped his heart out, stomped on it and sliced into small pieces to use as fertilizer. How was he supposed to analyze that answer? There was no way, there was no how?

"How did you know he proposed last month?"

_WHAT? That good for nothing lazy bum actually thought our sister would wed him?! _

_Of course he would think so, they love each other._

_But he's so useless! He come's through when it matters. _

_We know this, don't we, Gaara-kun? _

_Yeah, maybe we do. But we don't have to be happy about it, do we?_

_No, we don't, but we have to be happy for _**her**_. Okay, for the time being, we will cooperate. _

Gaara blinked a few times, his brain trying to dissolve this piece of information. Well, he should have guessed. What else?

"I didn't." Temari blushed. "I do now, though."

Gaara raised a finger to his temple, pose mocking. "Now, how come you neglected to tell me of this occurrence?"

Temari nervously dragged her hand through her blond locks, a force of habit she couldn't shake when faced with fear. Gaara inwardly winced; he didn't want her to be scared. He merely wanted her to talk. Was he really that bad?

"Well, I just… I thought you'd… It just didn't come up, that's all." She brushed a strand of hair out of her beautiful face. Gaara studied her. The outline of her lips, the eyes darting from the floor, to him, only to stare at the floor again. He'd tone it down a little, this intimidation thing. Apparently it dug through her surface and chilled her insides.

"Okay."

Silence.

A knife wouldn't be enough to cut the tension. A chainsaw would break in two by the mere closeness of the tension. Temari's sharp fan would buckle under the pressure of the tension. Goddammit, how did he manage to create this… _thing_ anyway?!

Suddenly, Temari's aura turned mischievous. "So… Who's your _object of affection_ that you are going to seduce here?"

The kunoichi's stance changed from defense to strong offense. Gaara wanted to shrink away, but his pride made him stand tall (even if she was only five, six centimeters shorter than him).

"I do not know what you are talking about, aneki."

"Bullshit!" Temari laughed, erasing all former tension, bouncing forward and wrapping an arm around his slim shoulders. "Who? Tell me, or I'll get serious."

"You didn't deem your _fiancé_ fit to mention to me. Why should I divulge you this piece of personal information? Give me one reasonable reason, and I will."

Temari scratched her chin, squinting at him in concentration.

"Because I'm your sister and you love me so much?"

_Yeah, we don't think so, sis._

"Yeah, I didn't think you'd go for that either. Maybe… Because I'm curious?"

_Nope. We think you'll have to do better than that._

"Because… _I can help you out!_" Temari pronounced proudly as she had discovering the wheel for the first time.

_Well… We will consider her offer._

_No, come on, we should take up on it! Onee-chan's good! _

_We think that she could dislike the fact that it's a male, and foremost, she would defiantly laugh if we said it's Lee._

_No, she wouldn't laugh at us! But she wouldn't help us. Yes she would! We will consider her offer, let us settle at that._

_Okay, we will settle for that now, but if she asks again later, we will accept. That's a deal. _

"Temari…" Gaara begun, a sigh lingering in his throat. Why couldn't he like someone Temari would look up to, not spit on?

If Temari was a chibi, her eyes would have been replaced with pink hearts shining disturbingly bright.

"No, come on! I could be your matchmaker! I'd figure out what she thinks of you and –"

She came to an abrupt stop when noticing the minor change in Gaara's green eyes. In horror she bit her lip and put her hands on her face, shielding her blush. Obviously, she had noted his discomfort.

"Oh my god, I'm so stupid. It's not a girl, is it?"

"No."

Again, if Temari had been a chibi, her eyes would be on fire now.

"Well, now you have to tell me! Who is it?! All the Konoha boys are so sexy! Oh my God, you have to tell me!"

Gaara felt as if she'd punched the air out of her lungs. She was even more excited. Perfect. Now she'd be so disappointed with his answer. She thought nothing of Lee other than that he was a bit eccentric, annoying, loud, disturbing and so on and so forth. He couldn't bring himself to be angry with her for that. At first, he had thought the taijutsu expe rt had been more than just a _minor_ annoyance; Lee had actually bothered him so much he wanted the jump suit boy dead. It was very different now, wasn't it? Not to Temari though. She probably thought he was a dimwit who was just as stupid as his bloody insane sensei.

"No, I will not tell you. End of discussion. Now, I would like to be present when you announce to Nara Shikamaru that your wedding will be possible. That is, if you plan to tell him at all. You seem to think of yourself as a secretive, scheming woman, which you are not." Gaara smirked. "You are free to leave if you wish."

Temari walked to the door, the large fan adorning her thin back. "Alright, I'll let you of the hook for now. But at the party later, I'll force it out of you."

_That's funny, we thought she said party. She didn't though, did she?_

Gaara tilted his head, eye twitching in minor annoyance.

"Aneki." Temari stopped out in the hall, popping her head back in.

"Turn. Come back. Explain."

"So, Uzumaki wanted a party, another excuse for these bums to get drunk, and he forced Uchiha to let it be in his mansion. It'll start around nighttime. I'll come here in… five hours maybe to doll you up, okay?"

When Gaara didn't answer, Temari grinned. "Ja ne."

With that, she took of.

_Yes, we wish she could be less blunt about things, don't we, Gaara-chan?_

The five hours had passed without Gaara even noticing, too caught up in thought. Gaara liked silence. It was nice and quiet.

Until Temari came bursting through the door.

"Ohayo otouto! Are you ready to be dressed up?" Temari yelled loudly, Shikamaru trailing her like the more or less whipped man he was. Gaara didn't know if Temari managed to bend him after her will, or if the Konoha shadow just didn't care enough about anything to oppose her.

"No." he answered, and if he hadn't been the fearsome Sabaku no Gaara, people would have thought he was sulking. But he was, so there was no hint of sulking noticed.

"Well, let's get started then."

Shikamaru grabbed her shoulder, halting her. The redhead was a little relived. She was his sister and he loved her, but right now he was just a little scared of her. She turned to look at her man, looking dubious.

"You troublesome woman. Don't you think you are trampling his male pride right now?

"Gaara have a lot. He could handle a small loss like this." She pecked the shadow wielder on the cheek and turned to her little brother. "Where is your backpack?"

"Nowhere." he answered, though it was plainly in sight on his bed, untouched and not so unpacked.

"I'm going to get the things I need, so sit down on something comfortable while I pick out your clothes."

"I assume you boss your fiancé around a bit less than this?" Gaara taunted, smirking slightly.

"I don't need to." she answered from inside the bathroom. "Now, sit down and shut up."

"I will punish you with a never-ending stream of C-ranked missions far away from Konoha if you don't lay off that superior act."

Temari stuck her head out of the door, smiling. "Ah, that must mean I can doll you up without complains then?"

"You will be quiet. I will complain about it. Does that sound good?" Gaara answered lightly, and held back a sigh. He wanted help, sure, but this was below his dignity. With that Nara boy here too, his humiliation doubled, maybe tripled.

Shikamaru didn't look even a little bit uneasy at the situation.

"You seem to have a very healthy sibling relationship, then." he said to Gaara, starting a conversation.

"Healthy and blossoming. Does she do this to you?"

"Nah, she mostly gets pissed because I just don't care and doesn't resist, so she's the lower status in this relationship."

"Don't make me come out there and hurt you, Nara!" was heard from the bathroom, and a second later Temari in person emerged with her arms filled.

She threw the bundle of clothes (which she'd bought, mind you) she was carrying at him, hitting him in the chest and falling into his lap.

In her other arm, an emerald cosmetic bag rested comfortably. Most people would say; if Temari knew what was good for her, she'd let the bag be where it was. Of course, Temari knew something they didn't know.

"That is what you'll wear –"

"No."

"– and I'll fix the make up when you're dressed so I can match."

"No."

"Stop being such a baby about everything! Now, get changed!"

_We should have revoked her right to exist on the face of earth a long time ago, don't you think, Kazekage-sama?_

_

* * *

_

**A/N**: DAMN, fifteen pages! I never thought I could actually do it! Okay, so I am quite pleased with the way this turned out. I had fun toying around with Gaara's inner thought's (the one's in italic), and I liked the fast that he referred to himself as 'we'. Anyway, the other half should be out in a couple of days. I am quite… well, insecure, so I'm guessing that _some_ people will go "Don't pollute with your god awful writing skills and bad grammar", but hey, it's my second language, I admit, I'm not an expert. But I like writing things; it's something fun to do while home alone sick (which I am right now. The inside of my throat is filled with these _nasty _white blisters and I cough phlegm. Nice). Cookies and cash for reviewers, they're in the bottom drawer! XD


	2. Where we are right now

**A/N**: So sorry it's late, with school starting I stressed out. But now it's here, and it's LONG. I never thought that it'd actually come to this. Finishing something, I mean. I usually just dump it somewhere and forget about it. I have a thousand different stories I have abandoned just to read others, since their stories are usually better than mine. But now, dammit I am finishing it! See, I knew I was destined for something great. Cough. Feel free to flame me for my ridiculous author's notes, if you wish, since they are clearly the absolute worst in the entire fic. Of course, most people don't read this. Anyway… Cookie…? No…?

**Disclaimer**:Well, let's go through this again, shall we? Since I don't want people in white coats to come and take be to a padded room again, I won't be long. No own. Want to own, but no own. Pathetic little blonde want to own Itachi and Deidara so she can make them play nice with each other, but she doesn't. Pathetic little blonde will be quiet now.

**Pairings**: GaaLee, snuggly, ShikaTema and mentions of some very minor implied SasuNaru, KanKiba, KibaHina and KanIno too… ;) And, if you want to be petty, I suppose some people that want to see it will see some GaaNaru, but that's just not happening in my point of view.

**Warnings**: There will be a slightly silly plot. I guess the cussing must be M-rated, unfortunately. Shounen ai/yaoi. You have been warned. Don't like boyxboy, click the back button. Minor fluff. MAJOR SPOILERS if you haven't read till 247 in the manga.

**Notice**: This is a TWO-SHOT and it'll remain that way if no one asks for it to evolve into a multichap fic. Review and tell me, love it, hate it or if you wanna give me some pointers. Itadakimasu!

**Notice II**: Gaara's inner thought are in _italic_, and music playing in the background will be in **bold**. Crossing of both are just to put _**emphasis**_on words in favor of using CAPITAL letters (capital letters will be used somewhat though), are we clear on that?

* * *

Kankurou couldn't remember the last time he had this much fun. Even though they were only twelve people there he knew, he was having a blast. Also, Naruto had forced him to say hello to his former team mate Sai. To stiff, must be a prude, Kankurou had immediately thought, but changed his mind quickly when Sai had started the party by stepping up dancing alone. Now the whole house practically shook by the vibrations made by wild dancing.

Kankurou also chose to drink very much since the Hyuuga girl seemed to occupy Kiba's mind to the extent that it reeked fluffiness of the boy, to his ultimate depression.

"Kankurou!" Naruto slung an arm around his shoulders, looking joyful and apparently very drunk. The orange fake kitty ears stuck up from the yellow hair, radiating kawai-ness. "Where'sss your _crrrrrazy_ sister and Gaara? Don't they know wutz guing on here?"

"They do. They're just not here yet." a voice said from the door.

"SCHISHAMARU! There you are!"

Kankurou stomped over to the shadow nin and glared hard at him. He didn't look half bad if he tried, really. Hn, Kankurou always thought Shikamaru could only look uninteresting and boring.

"Where is Temari?"

"Trying to force Gaara here. She – "

"Shikamaru! You're here now!" Ino yelled out, giving him a hug. She had noticed him and dragged her little dance group gang with her, the gang being Tenten, Sakura and Hinata.

"Where is she?" Kankurou repeated, purposely letting a drip of venom nestle its way into his question.

"She's just outside, trying to force Gaara inside." the shadow nin said lazily, even blinking lazily at the older man.

"Why can't Gaara walk on him own?" Sakura asked, sounding puzzled.

"Temari '_dolled_' him up, and he is a little ashamed."

"WHAT?" Four new faces appeared. Sasuke, Shino, Lee and Neji joined their little gathering by the closed door.

Neji snorted, "What did she do, give him a makeover?"

"Yep." Shikamaru answered, looking bored still. Why did people bother him with this, anyway? Couldn't they just wait and see?

"Well?" Ino asked. "Did she do any good?"

Shikamaru weighed his options. If he told them simply yes, they'd ask what she had done. If he said no, they'd ask what she did wrong. If he told them he looked horrible, they'd think, no, they'd _**know**_ he was lying. But… If he told them the Kazekage looked great, they wouldn't waste time inside. Most likely, they'd go outside and check, therefore ending the interrogation.

The cloud gazer smirked.

"Well, if I were gay I'd call him sex on legs. But now I'm not, so I'll just say he looks okay."

Tenten perked up at this. "Let's go have a look!" and only Ino had the time to react. The two slightly drunk girls rushed out the door, and were back five seconds later, holding tissues to their bleeding noses.

"Like, oh my God!" Tenten breathed, and Ino could only nod, still lingering in a veil of bliss.

Only now, the present rest of Konoha twelve plus Kankurou realized what Shikamaru had said. Kankurou could literary visualize himself keeling over and dying. First Temari, now Gaara. There was no end to this! The teen with face paint needed a vacation in a cave far away from the human society.

Sasuke opened his mouth, probably to spill some spiteful comment, but stopped when they heard the conversation from outside.

"Come on, don't be such an idiot! You look good! You –" That was obviously Temari, sounding as confident and sisterly as usual.

"I look like a _girl_, Temari. I don't want to… Can't I just –" Who that was could be left to discuss. That shy, insecure voice just could not be the mighty Sabaku no Gaara, who mercilessly killed people without even blinking.

"No, you can't _just_ anything. You are going in an that's – "

"No. You put more make up in my face than yours. I am not going in there. This is the end of this discussion."

If you ignored the pounding music, and listened real intently, you could her Temari's patience snap in two.

"_INSIDE_!"

* * *

_We shouldn't have agreed to this. We'll die in there for sure. We only wanted to be happy. Why did we agree to this? We are so stupid._

Temari dragged him behind her on the street, each tug bringing them closer to the Uchiha residence. The loud disco beat could be heard from all the way over there, and it sneaked into his legs, turning them into wobbly sticks of jelly. This was insane. How could he even go outside with this kind of clothing? It was so embarrassing, and people kept glancing at him. He didn't know if it was because they thought he was attractive or if they thought he was a freak. It made him unusually jumpy, at other times people would wither under his glare of death, but now he felt his confidence crumble a little more inside him with every look.

He wore the tight jeans with the belt tucked in loosely, the black fishnet shirt and a pair of heavy charcoal colored boots. Temari had decided it was too subtle with a v-necked black linen, so with her expertise jounin jutsu's, – how come she come across these useless jutsu's anyway? – she turned the linen into a dark blood red (a _seducing red_ was her name for it) matching with his hair. The black and red tie had been left home, Temari didn't like it anymore. Hn. She had also tried to use the bracelets as ankle chains, but which Gaara refused to wear. Compromising, she gave him one of her necklaces, similar with his belt. The necklace wasn't very loose, and Gaara feared it would suffocate him if he forgot to take it off before going to sleep (or passing out).

His red hair was messier than usual, small spikes sticking in every direction. The heavy eyeliner around his eyes wasn't very different than usual, except at the edges they continued to slither half a centimeter, giving his eyes a predator kind of look. The kunoichi had tried to make him wear eye contacts with cat pupils ("Come on, it's just for fun!"), but there was just so much one man could take in one makeover.

There it was.

The Uchiha mansion.

_Oh God. We're going to vomit__, aren't we?_

Why? There were so many things that could go wrong! The chances that this party passed in accord to Gaara's plans were so minimum it was ridiculous. No decent shinobi with a functioning brain would go against _these_ odds.

Two figures came running out of the house. They spotted them, and set coarse their way. It was Tenten and Ino, both dressed in glittery tank tops and miniskirts. They threw him one look, and then rushed right back inside, seemingly holding their hands to their faces.

Was he that horrible? God, this was stupid and he wasn't going to do this.

"Temari, I changed my mind, this is stupid. I look ridiculous."

His sister didn't even stop to look at him, choosing instead to speak to the air in front of her.

"Come on, don't be such an idiot! You look good! You –"

"I look like a _girl_, Temari. I don't want to… Can't I just – "

Temari turned around, shoved her face into his bubble of personal space and she looked less and less patient with every second passing.

"No, you can't _just _anything! You're going in and that's –"

"No. You put more make up in my face than yours. I am not going in there. This is the end of this discussion."

Gaara had enough with her bossy attitude. Who the hell did she think she was, bossing the Fifth Kazekage around like that? She was his subordinate, and she would take his orders. Period.

A few seconds, Temari's patience with his childish attitude literary burst into a million pieces.

"_INSIDE_!", and with a final push, she sent him flying, that's right, inside.

_Oh fuck. This is so not the entrance we wanted, was it, Gaara-kun? Poor us, why does she do this to us? _

Gaara stumbled in, trying hard to keep his balance and his dignity, which would inevitable shatter if he fell to the floor before he had even had any alcohol.

Temari grabbed his shoulders from behind him, helping him. He felt prying stares burning his pale skin.

"Hey! It's Gaara!"

_We want to die._

"Gaara?"

That was Kankurou's voice. The youngest Sand shinobi steeled himself, looked up and was meet with nine shocked faces and one indifferent. Shikamaru was never fazed whatever he was presented with, Gaara thought grimly. But, granted, he had seen the transformation from normal teen into... well, whatever he looked like now. The first thing that sprung to the redhead's mind was 'The Reaper', but… The Reaper was horribly unattractive. Temari couldn't have done that bad.

Neji, Sasuke, Hinata and Shino were the most discrete with their reactions, stilling all movement that would be thought upon as surprise movements. Kankurou, Ino, Tenten, Naruto, Sakura and Kiba were not discrete, though. At all.

"Damn! Shikamaru, you weren't kidding!" Sakura shouted, laughing. All but Kankurou nodded, looking flirtatious.

Gaara bit down on the inside of his cheek in silent rage.

_Shut up bitch! We could hate you!__ YOU UGLY – _

"What did you do to him?!" Kankurou yelled, pushing Gaara aside into a female brunette with something red painted in her face to poke Temari in between her collarbones.

"What do you mean? I barely…"

Gaara steadied himself and tried to hear what they were saying, but everything seemed to blur out and fade around him. Everything but one single man in the middle of the crowd.

Lee.

God. He was so beautiful. Gaara just couldn't stop looking at him.

He wore a simple black shirt with buttons, the two tops ones undone. A pair of forest green shorts reached just below his knees and showed off his well shaped legs. His eyes were lined with a thin layer of black eyeliner and his hair was different. The shiny bowl cut had been replaced with a messy one, one where thick bangs falling in his face would be a certain factor.

He realized Lee had not commented on his appearance. Was that good or bad? In fact, he hadn't reacted to his entrance at all. Gaara felt a shock of electricity run up his spine. Lee was staring straight into his eyes, dead silent. The redhead felt himself flushing faintly, coloring his pale face. He felt… fidgety. Yeah. Fidgety. Not a little turned on. _**Fidgety**_.

"LET'S PARTY!" Naruto yelled out, climbing on top of a table only to stumble right off it, toppling into a surprised Uchiha heir.

Lee tore his gaze away from him (_No! Yes! We don't know if we want him to see us! What if he thought we looked horrible? But again, what if he thought we looked good? Damnit! This is too much for our brain!_) and allowed himself to be dragged into the living room by the older Hyuuga.

"C'mon, let's get you some vodka!" Temari said bouncily, having detached Kankurou from her and led him though the house to the kitchen. Enormous bowls that seemed to contain different strengths of alcohol were placed in a random pattern wherever there was an empty space big enough.

Gaara didn't notice the plastic cup that was shoved into his hand, and he didn't notice how concentrated the shot was, and he didn't notice the way it burned his soon to be tender throat. However, he did notice that his vision stated to blur around the edges. Fuck, how much did he drink? He stayed in the kitchen for about a quarter of an hour, watching people walking into walls or coming to refill their cups.

After a little while, or a long while, it didn't matter. All the former thoughts about being nervous or embarrassed were shoved into a chest inside Gaara, secured with a lock and even nailed shut. He only felt… euphoria. His cheeks became permanently painted with a faint pink tinge, nothing like that plumb red most drunkards sport during intoxication. He looked innocent, if anything.

"SHOT CONTEST! WHO CAN DRINK THE MOST?!"

Damn. Gaara could do with that. Where was the living room again?

Oh, yeah. Through the door of course.

_We don't know about this, Gaara-sama. We can't handle alcohol that well, and we're already smashed. Can't we just…_

The little voice of sense inside him talking died out to be replaced with the pounding music. What the hell, it was only liquor. That didn't fucking hurt anyone, un. Fuck being sober, it sucked anyway.

Now where was that goddamned living room?

* * *

"SHOT CONTEST! WHO CAN DRINK THE MOST?!"

Hell yeah! This was Temari's kind of party.

And that contest was as good as won already. These dumbass freshmen leafs just could not handle liquor at all. It was actually worth drinking that disgusting shit just to see them keel over. But she had plenty of time yet, the party had still not reached climax.

Temari danced close to her man, not caring who saw her anymore. All her cautions had been thrown aside after a few drinks. She thought, if she encouraged Gaara to drink, she should do the same. To set a good example, of course. Except she had totally lost track of him half an hour ago.

Oh well.

He could take care of himself.

No, that was probably not true. He wasn't good with alcohol, that twit got so awfully carefree. But one drunken night wouldn't kill him, if no one tried to.

Temari strained her ears.

Above all the yelling, she thought she could her puppet obsessed brother calling out from her.

She hooked herself to Shikamaru and shoved her way to the source of the voice. He didn't cooperate and tried to say something to her that was drowned in all the sounds surrounding them. She turned around, pushed herself close and yelled, "WHAT?"

"I SAID, DON'T YOU WANT TO KNOW WHO YOUR LITTLE BROTHER IS DANCING WITH?"

She shook her head.

"HE'S PROBABLY NOT THAT DRUNK YET. GIVE IT ANOTHER THIRTY MINUTES!"

Shikamaru glanced at something behind her, and then looked at her, almost as if he felt sorry for her.

"I DON'T THINK THAT'S NECESSARY!"

Temari spun around and quickly came to the conclusion her younger brother must have been drinking at an alarming rate. And, oh dear god and all that's pure, who in the name of hell was that underneath him?

* * *

Here was the living room! This house must have grown since Gaara was pushed into it, because he got lost several times before walking into the shot contest. What kind of narcissi had walk in closets anyhow?

In the center of the room, at an oak table there was a gathering of people, and two people sat by it facing each other, one looking slurry and unfocused while the other looked cooler than ice. They two girls stared hard at one another, and then the younger looking carrot haired one's head connected with the wooden surface with a hollow '_thump!_'. That was going to be an ugly bump tomorrow. A tall guy grabbed her by the puny shoulders and dragged her off the chair and out of the room. Hopefully, to wake her up. Gaara knew that if she continued to be unconscious with a concussion (which she may have gotten, that thump had sounded harsh) she could die.

But the redhead paid her no more heed and pushed his way to the empty chair and plopped down on it, trying to identify the girl across the table. She had a pink glittery top that sparkled whenever she moved her curvy body. She also had dark chestnut hair tied up in two buns…

It was Tenten, then. Huh.

And she looked fairly collected considering the amount of shots she must have downed.

Pretty, too.

He pinched himself in the thigh to focus on the newly refilled small glasses in front of him.

"Sabaku no Gaara. What a pleasant surprise! Want to see who can drink the most?" she said loudly to be heard above the noisy music, sending flirty glances all over the place. Not at him, just…at every single human in the mansion in general.

Gaara opened his mouth, and time stopped. Hanging behind the older girl's chair was none other than Lee. His appearance was a little more disheveled, but he seemed perfectly sober. The third button from the top was unbuttoned.

The third button was unbuttoned.

_**The third button was unbuttoned.**_

Alarms and sirens and fucking swat team calls went off in Gaara's head. There had only been two unbuttoned an hour ago. Who the _hell_ had _unbuttoned that third one_?!

_There will be murder here tonight. _

Gaara swallowed his fury, clenching his hands, turning his knuckles white. He felt his limit getting closer and closer.

_We bet it's that pink haired ugly bitch!_

An emo-looking girl slung her arm around Lee's shoulders, and said hi. The taijutsu expert responded in the same way. She said something again, and Lee pointed at the stairs. The emo girl ran at that direction, unknowingly saving herself from the redhead's wrath.

_Fine__. It's on. _

"We'll drink 'till one of us pass out or give. Sounds good?"

"Fabulous." she grinned, and grabbed a glass, put it to her mouth and downed it all in four microseconds blank.

_Yeah, Gaara. Smart. Real smart. Our drunken stupor is going to be so sexy to Lee, isn't it? Fuck, we're so stupid.__ This was stupid. All of this was so idiotic there are no words to describe it with! WHY ARE WE SO STUPID?! _

He mimicked her rapid movements and managed to swallow it all while outwards looking just as professional as her. But, she must be the all-time champion, meaning she had sat there quite a while. She must be even more loaded than him right now, giving him the edge.

Or, so he thought. After fifteen shots she didn't even look a little bit fazed. Gaara, on the other hand, thought this was his worst time ever.

"Alright!" he announced loudly, putting his hands in the air, signaling defeat. His older female opponent whooted and still seated did a little victory dance, shaking her upper body to the beat.

Gaara rose from the table and stumbled away, feeling the need to sit down somewhere.

_Gaara__-kun, we would want to be a little more careful or we will lose our footing! _

And, as his inner voice had predicted, the Kazekage stepped on his own foot and he seemed to stumble in slow motion into something solid and warm. A very comfy wall, he had to give the Uchiha that. Yes, it was very comfortable indeed. He nuzzled into it and drew the soft smell into his lungs. Faint mixes of a different people's colognes and perfumes, sweat and mint. Not that strong mint that makes you regret you ever put it on your tongue; the sweet kind that mildly caressed your insides.

The wall rumbled and emitted sounds one would think was laughter.

"Got you, Gaara-sama." a friendly tone said when the chuckling subsided.

_Oh our fucking God. God. God. __**Fuck**_

He knew that voice; there was just no other voice like it. Lee.

This situation just turned from the worst possible situation from the deepest pits of hell into the sweet, sweet heaven. Gaara slowly lifted his head and sucked in the sight like a swamp, tracing his way from the ribs which he had apparently crashed into up till the gentle obsidian eyes.

He older boy had cushioned his fall, resulting in him crashing into the real, hard wall behind him. He was rubbing the back of his head, and the sand shinobi assumed that Lee, like so many other people at this party, would wake up sporting a bump tomorrow.

Only now Gaara realized how compromising this position must look. Lee sat pushed up against the wall (_headboard, headboard, headboard, HEADBOARD –_) and the redhead lay in between his spread thighs, pale arms flat against the wall on either side of his well built chest to keep him from squashing the older boy. His right leg was almost wrapped around Gaara's, and the younger boy's nose tip was brushing against a warm chin. He felt ripplings going though the soft stomach under his chest. Blushing furiously, he realized what part of Lee that was touching his stomach. This was kind of nice. If they reversed positions, it would be even better.

Gaara thought briefly of their current relationship. They had become a lot closer over the years, like best friends. They would spar together whenever there was an opening; occasionally do some traditional friend things, like games, or going out together. There had never been any uncomfortable moments to interrupt their flow. The stoic boy didn't want to interrupt their flow now either, just alter the direction slightly away from the entirely platonic relationship-flow into the more romantic route.

"Are you okay Gaara-sama? You seem awfully red." Lee said, placing his index and middle finger under his chin to push his head up for a better view.

Forcing the blush down, Gaara collected himself enough to give him a decent answer. "No, no, I'm fine."

But he wasn't fine. Not even close to fine. Fine no longer existed in Gaara's world. He became painfully aware of everything and everyone in the room. The music (he knew this song… It had been a huge hit in Suna for about two weeks ago…). The dancing. The people around them who didn't even notice them lying there. And his own _forthcoming doom_! As he was exceptionally drunk, his body and libido had just realized that he was lying plastered on top Lee, and how absolutely dead sexy he looked. Oh dear God.

He wriggled a little while trying to stabilize himself, still feeling disoriented.

"How much have you had to drink? You seem fairly… dizzy." Lee said, and a faint blush started to spread across his cheeks. Gaara surprised noted the small flush and –

_Why is he blushing? __He's not drunk. He's ridiculously sober. Was it something we did? What if it __**was**__ something we__did?_

Not so subtly, he wriggled experimentally again and the flush spread from the cheek down to the older boy's neck. And that wasn't all, either. The redhead felt himself sober up in a millisecond. Maybe it was his imagination, but Gaara could have _sworn _there was a very, very, _**very **_slight shift beneath him stomach.

Lee chuckled nervously, scratching the back of his head.

"I have to get back to Tenten, she needs her moral support, you know, that kind of thing, so if I could just – "

"Lee?" Gaara said, interrupting his obviously very nervous rant.

"Hai, Gaara-sama?"

"Are you attracted to me?" he said bluntly, staring straight into Lee's eyes, which widened slightly at the question asked. **  
**

"Why would you ask that?" Lee said, shifting uneasily and looking everywhere but at him.

"No reason." Gaara answered, placing a finger on his chest, slowly tracing upwards between the collarbones, gaining an almost undetectable reaction.

Suspicions confirmed. Alright, so Lee thought he was sexy. The mere knowledge gave him an incredible boost in confidence and he leaned forward, gently bumping his nose into the older boy's neck.

Lee made a small gurgling noise in the back of his throat; "W-what are you d-doing?"

"Testing." he said slowly, lips moving against the hot skin as he spoke.

Gaara almost pitied the Konoha shinobi, he sounded so strained and panicked. Oh well, it was going to go away very soon. One way or another, which usually would mortify the younger boy to his very soul. What if Lee never spoke to him again? What if he hated him? Not now, though. Even if it was almost indistinct, he had already crossed the limits of a normal friendship and had yet to be pushed back. Maybe he wasn't out on as thin ice as he previously had thought.

"Testing w-what?"

_Oh yeah. We know that tone. Although, we have to admit, Lee is a lot harder to read than most people think. Tough, but now there's really to way to hide what you're thinking__ about, ne?_

"I don't know… I just… I'm just… Testing something. Be quiet."

He didn't know what else to say. What could he say? 'I'm testing to see if you would be freaked out if I started seducing you?' Better just to say nothing.

"Yes, but – "

Gaara removed his hand from Lee's chest and lifted it to ghost a mild touch along the tan cheek. The older boy visibly shivered. Gaara leaned his head back, caught his gaze and held it firmly.

There were so many feelings swirling around on the surface in the dark eyes. Surprise, uneasiness, perplexity and… hope? Could it be, or was it his imagination or the liquor?

There simply just _**had to **_be something there. It couldn't be nothing! Lee would've pushed him away! But what if he thought Gaara was so intoxicated the redhead didn't know what he was doing? And what if he really was so drunk he didn't notice Lee sending out stop signals?!

_GOD! This has got to__ be the most mind-boggling decision in our entire life. Damnit, we need a vacation. Though this is our vacation… We need a new life… _

He forced those thoughts far away out of his brains range. Locking his eyes at the soft lips in front of him he slowly leaned forwards, giving Lee a way out of whatever there was to come.

But nothing. Lee just stared at him, seemingly in too much of a daze to move at all.

He was a decimeter away now. Five centimeters. Two. One. A hair's breadth away…

Lee was still in some sort of astounded trance, and Gaara softly bonked their foreheads together, successfully bringing the older boy back to earth.

"Gaara-sama, w-what are you doing?"

A pink flush was dusted onto the redhead's cheeks, and he averted his gaze.

"I don't know." He summoned all the courage he had, and added, "What do you want to think I'm doing?"

Lee, once again, flushed pink and tripped over his own words, "I do not know. I just… You seem drunk."

"Still thinking clearly though. I just feel a little less… _restricted_, if you will. And frankly, I think my brain has started to malfunction."

There was no visible change, not Gaara could tell Lee's mood had sunk to a less pleasant level with that comment.

"What do you mean?" the older boy said, somewhat dejectedly.

"Well…" He licked his lips and said as straight forward as possible; "Right now, I can't really imagine what would happen if you rejected me, which I can usually picture."

By the looks of it, Lee didn't understand what he just said.

He lowered his voice to a whisper, "It's not pretty."

"Gaara-sama, I do not understand, are you –"

"Can I kiss you?" Gaara interrupted abruptly, his currently one way mind focused intently on the brunette.

"W-what?"

"Can I kiss you?" he said slowly, putting great emphasis on each word.

"B-but I – W-why are you so forw –"

"Can I or can't I?" Gaara looked at him, and other people would have called it 'staring someone down', but right now, it was named 'observing'.

Lee stopped talking, and scanned his face thoroughly.

"Are you joking?"

"No."

"You are totally serious?"

"Yes."

"And you want to kiss me?"

"Yes."

Lee blinked a few times, regaining his senses.

"But why?"

The corners of Gaara's lips curved upwards, forming a small smile.

"Because I want to."

"But why?" Lee insisted. The younger boy realized he was looking for something.

"Because I like you."

Perplexed, the only answer Gaara received from Lee was, "Oh."

Without thinking, Gaara closed the distance between them and landed a soft kiss on the other boy's lips, eyes sliding shut. After a few seconds – was it really such a short time? – he opened his eyes and leaned back.

Only now, he realized what chain effects this could cause.

"Lee, I – " he started, lifting his hands in front of his lithe frame, as if shielding himself.

"You like me?" The older jounin said, sounding normal again.

_Half-assed confession plus half-assed odds equals dumbass ninja, Gaara._

"I – "

"GAARA!"

_NO! SHUT THE FUCK UP AND GO AWAY YOU MORONIC BASTARD!__ FUUUUUUCK!_

In the background Kankurou rushed forward, past Temari, who weakly said 'Kankurou, don't – ', and ripped Gaara to his feet.

"You have obviously had too much to drink. We'll get you home now."

"Kankurou, I will obliterate your inane existence upon this earth if you don't release me right _**now**_." Gaara hissed, looking insanely furious.

The puppet master let go as if burnt and stared incredulously at his younger brother. "What –? You can't seriously mean that – "

"What I do or do not do is none of your business." Gaara interrupted coldly, about to be taken over by the overwhelming wrath swirling under his skin. He had been so fucking close, and then what? KANKUROU, that's what!

"But – "

"GAARA-CHA-AN, you have to dance a little; I haven't seen you dance at _**all**_ since you got here! Come 'ere!" a blaring voice echoed throughout Gaara's cranium, source coming from the living room entrance.

A yellow flash appeared in the hallway, grabbing Gaara by the shoulders, effectively ripping him from this older brothers formerly cramped grip and he was pulled out of the room into another, bigger one.

When the yellow menace had let him go, the world started spinning. Those shots had started taking effect now, the edges of his vision burned white and black. The room was so crowded there was barely enough space to move around. Gaara regretted drinking any alcohol. This was going to be the worst hangover _**ever **_tomorrow.

"Naruto, what are you – "

"Come dance with me!" the fox boy said, grinning.

"But I c-can't da –"

"Everybody can dance!" the blond slurred and dragged him up on a mahogany table (_He has a fetish for being the centre of attention, doesn't he) _and grabbed his pale hands.

"It's real easy! I'll show you!" he yelled and placed the smaller hands on his own rolling hips.

"Why are you – "

"Sasuke-_**kun **_has been ignoring me all night and it's starting to really _**piss me off**_, but I figure, if I dance with a sexy thang like you, he'd go gr_**ee**_n with jealouslylly…. jealousl… whatever, he wouldn't ignore me. So you have to dance with mee!"

Gaara could barely keep control of his body, how was he supposed to dance? And wasn't there something he had to do? Or had he already done it? He had a nagging feeling it was important… But it couldn't hurt to dance a little? The numbness had started to spread throughout his toes, pricking him. If he danced, the blood should start pumping through him normally again.

He dragged his hands along the taller boy's body, his own swaying with the beat. He felt one hand in his spiky hair and one on the small of his back.

"No, no, no. Your hips, you ain't doing it right. Here, let me." Naruto half-shouted nearly incoherently.

He pushed their hips together, hands holding firmly at the smaller boy's hipbones. Swinging his own from side to side, he started a rhythm, and Gaara quickly got the hang of it. Together they moved to the beat, noses lightly touching whenever their rhythms paths crossed. Their hands wandered to a friendly extent, though a drunken friendly extent.

_GAARA-SAMA! Danger!_

A kunai came whistling through the air, flying in between their faces. On pure instinct, the Kazekage threw his upper body backwards to avoid any injuries. He leaned back to a vertical stance, eyes darting to the place where the sent kunai must have come from. Aha. The Uchiha stood silent, seething on the spot, eyes red in fury.

"Sasuke-bastard! What the fuck are you doing?"

"I could ask you the same goddamned thing! Just what the hell are you playing at?!"

The tall brunette grabbed Naruto by the neckline of his shirt and jerked him down, the blonde knocking Gaara over in an accidental movement at the same time.

Gaara once again pummeled to the floor, only this time he actually hit it. He sat up and rubbed his shoulders, casting glances around the room to see if someone was laughing at him. But his eyes got caught at something.

_SHIT!_

Lee. He was standing in the doorway, looking at him. That's what he was doing. He was trying to sort things out and start things up with Lee! And, oh dear God, he had practically had sex on the table. This was not good for him, the redhead suspected.

_Son of a –_

* * *

Temari saw her younger brother crash to the ground. She could've caught him in time, but didn't think he deserved it. He had confused her beyond her limits and he had to be punished. At first, she had guessed he liked a girl. Then she understood it was a boy. Then she guessed, well, it's that weird bushy brow. But then he started dancing… like that… with that annoying Jinchūriki! How was she supposed to figure anything out if he kept misleading her?!

"Damnit, stubborn ass." She made her way to Gaara and lifted him up and slung his left arm around her shoulder so she could help him carry his own weight.

"I should to go now." he said, blinking hard.

"Yeah, I think so now too." she agreed gently, overcome with maternity feelings.

"I need some sort of pill to dispose of the alcohol; otherwise I will pass out at this moment."

"Well, I guess a medical shinobi should have some. I'll go get Sakura – "

Gaara suddenly got an insane glint in his eyes.

"If you get that pink haired abomination any closer than ten meters from me I will rip your lungs out and give them to your fiancé as an early engagement present. Am I being clear?"

Temari coughed nervously.

"Yeah, okay, I'll… I'll get someone else then."

"Thank you."

In silence they walked out of the house. Gaara didn't want to wait in the yard (where there was a considerable amount of disgusting objects and liquids) so she made her way up to the roof. She was glad he wasn't as heavy as Kankurou, although the puppet master was maybe a decimeter taller than her redhead brother.

Putting him down, she rushed into the house to search for someone specializing in medical treatment.

Gaara leaned his head on his knees, too drunk to even think coherently anymore.

He sensed a new presence arriving.

"Alright, Gaara-kun, open your mouth." a feminine voice said to him, pushing his head back.

Reluctantly, he did as told and felt a pill slide down his throat along with some water.

"It'll rid you of all the drunken side-effects in five minutes, so I'll stay here till you're completely sober. The hangover, however, will be doubled when it arrives in about six, seven hours."

Gaara took a good look at the woman sitting beside him. She had a purple halter top that sparkled in the moonlight. A short skirt in white dressed the long legs, showing off a lot skin since the woman sat with her knees drawn to her chest. She had her blonde hair in a tight ponytail, a thick strand escaping it and hung loosely across her cheek. The green eyes weren't as heavily painted as his own, framed with thick lashes.

Yamanaka Ino.

Well, she was absolutely a hundred percent better than Sakura. And besides, she would probably not dare to talk to him.

"Gaara-kun?"

_We liked it better when annoying people wouldn't dare speak to us._

"Hn."

"Any particular reason you wish to sober up? It's so much fun being drunk." She gave him a look. "Was it someone in there you are attracted to?"

Gaara almost choked on his tongue. How could this girl be so perceptive? No one had seen them… right? Oh God, what if they had been the source of some perverse amusement?

She smiled lightly, "I don't know. I'm just guessing here. That's usually the reason why people go out of their way doing embarrassing and troublesome things. Trust me; I've had my fair share of humiliation."

"Things don't always go the way you plan, though, do they?" Gaara answered lazily, taking a long look at the girl.

He thought he had her all figured out. A competitive boy-crazy teenager who put too much effort into her looks and too little into her training. A dumb, fawning, disgusting usual teenage girl.

Apparently there was more to that girl than was visible.

"Care to tell me who?" she asked, tilting her head to look directly at him.

"What do you offer?" the redhead cockily shot back, the girl had actually managed to rouse his more competitive side.

"I'll tell you if you tell me. Sounds negotiable?"

"A fair deal. Ladies first."

She glanced at the stars.

"Well, I used to like Sasuke. It was based mostly on looks and physical appeal. You know, I thought, I guessed he was everything I wanted. But then someone precious to me died and I realized if you really love someone, you'd know he was everything you could possibly want."

She chuckled and Gaara felt unnerved. It was logical, sure, but why was she so pleased about her failed love life?

"Then I met this guy. I didn't like him at first, and I had no reason to, either. He was rude and part of an enemy village. His looks weren't as obvious or blinding as Sasuke's, and granted, we have never really been alone together, but when we spent time together with our friends, he could make me laugh, even if I didn't let it show. I figured, if we spent more time together, I'd get to know him. And with time, whenever he was here, I felt so excited. I was always thinking, I'll talk to him today, one on one! And every time I backed out. But again, he seemed interested in someone else. I don't know whether I should do anything. I mean, he has a crush on someone else and he lives in another village! The odds of something happening are minimal. But… I don't know, I just know…. that if we had a shot… I think it could really be something. Ever had that feeling?"

Gaara blinked. He had a fair guess who she was talking about.

"Well… Anyway, your turn."

"No."

"That's not fair. We made a deal."

"True. But now I'm sober, courtesy of you, and I don't feel like talking."

Ino glanced down, the corners of her mouth lifting upwards. "Well, I think you're going to have to talk anyway."

Gaara, too, looked down. With his back turned to them, Lee stood out in the yards, seemingly just taking a break from everything happening inside.

"Ja ne. I'll be going now."

With that, she jumped off the roof, tapped the young man's shoulder and rushed inside.

Lee, surprised, turned around and spotted Gaara on the sealing. The latter looked away, embarrassed with his actions inside. Now that his head was clear, he sported a blush, regretting his little slip. Now Lee was going to come up here and tell him they couldn't be friends anymore. Or that he was straight. Or that… that he actually liked him back. He hadn't really protested that much when Gaara molested him (_You can't molest the willing, Gaara-chan_). But the man was so nice to everyone; maybe he was just trying not to hurt his feelings. That was not highly unlikely. In fact, it was very likely. Between the two, the latter would be the most likely. It was just unthinkable that Lee would actually consider starting anything up! They lived so far away from each other, they were two boys and God it would surely be so many easier ways to start a relationship with someone else in his own village than with someone living three days away!

"Gaara-sama?" Lee said, now next to him instead of down on the ground.

"Hai?" Gaara said, bracing himself for the impact.

"So… You and beer don't go hand in hand then."

He winced at the implications. "No. We don't mix and match. I apologise for my peculiar behavior."

The Konoha shinobi shrugged. "Mhm. You didn't seem drunk, though."

When Gaara didn't answer, he continued. "You seemed quite sober, actually."

_What are you__ getting at, you devious evil… We can't get angry at him. There is just no way. We detest that. We love being furious, don't we, Kazekage-sama?_

Lee leaned over and cupped Gaara's chin, tilting his head up from his knees.

The Suna shinobi couldn't speak. He couldn't think, he couldn't move, he couldn't_** breathe**_. The older boy leaned closer and closer. Their noses were grazing. His hot breath on his unconsciously parted lips was so intoxicating. He absolutely didn't want to push him away, but he couldn't read Lee's intentions. He just closed his eyes and let whatever that was happening happen.

Their lips were brushing against each others now, their foreheads resting on the other.

"Can you still say what you said before?" Lee spoke against his lips, smooth hands moving to entangle with his own smaller ones.

"What?" Gaara whispered, too caught up in the brief touches that were sending shivers though his body. He stifled a moan when a hand slid into his hair, playing gently with the flaming locks.

"Can you, when sober, still say you like me?"

"Uh-huh."

"That's…! That's… Well, it's not that bad." The older boy smiled against his mouth.

"Mhm."

Gently pushing the Kazekage's head forward, the older boy sealed his lips on the redhead's. Gaara's passive hands positioned themselves comfortable with the left one on the brunette's thigh and right one caressing a tan cheek. He felt a wet tongue swipe across his bottom lip, asking for entrance which Gaara granted eagerly. It wasn't a heated battle for dominance; it was a moment to just enjoy. A minute ago, his head had been brimming with thoughts. Now the only thing he could think of was the way the slick muscle massaged his own and –

"GAARA!" a voice leveled beneath his own shouted. That must be either Naruto or a Naruto bunshin.

He had the most impeccable timing, didn't that disfigured little son of a bitch?

_NO! NO FUCKING WAY! NO! GO AWAY!_

* * *

Temari sat in the Nara residence, eyes drooping with sleepiness even though she chose to get out of bed. Last night had been pretty rough. Dancing till her legs ached was a feat worth mentioning. She had entered a shot contest with a leaf girl she vaguely remembered from the Chuunin exams, and though she had managed to out drink her, it had been quite a challenge.

"Shikamaru, you up yet?"

"No. Leave me alone. Troublesome woman."

"I drank more than you. You are fixing me breakfast, now."

"Make me."

"I will, you do know that?"

"When you find a way to outwit me, let me know."

Temari sat down on the couch, sulking. There was no way to outwit him, so she'd just guilt trip him with silence till he felt bad enough to make breakfast. Or lunch. He thought things through rather slowly when it came to these things. She rubbed her eyes. What else had happened last night?

Gaara had been so pissed when he came home last night. He had, reluctantly, told her what happened, and then thrown her out. He wanted to be alone, and around the time, Kankurou has still no where to be seen.

Apparently, the feelings Gaara felt for the crazy jump suit boy were returned, but when the whole thing had started to actually go somewhere, Naruto had interrupted them a second time, therefore sending Gaara into such a rage fit he had to leave.

Was there something else…? Oh yeah, Chouji had asked about Shikamaru and herself. She had told him the truth, and she guessed he told everyone, because no one came asking anything else that night.

But no more. Maybe she'd check up on Kankurou, she hadn't seen him since yesterday, drunk as hell.

But that was later. Right now, she could hear her fiancé drag his lazy ass out of bed to make her breakfast.

This was too good to pass up on. Her little man was an excellent cook.

* * *

Gaara walked along the streets of Konoha, time somewhere around eight. He would have gotten out earlier, but his head had been pounding mercifully and Gaara could just feel his brain getting grilled inside his skull. So much pain. 

Where did Lee live, anyway?

A cold shiver ran up his spine.

What if Lee lived with _**Gai**_?

Gaara would run away if that was the case.

Using his shinobi senses he started scanning though the area for Lee's chakra signals. After a couple of minutes, he felt a vague familiar presence in the outskirts of Konoha. Lee wasn't home at this time of the day? Gaara followed the faint trail and soon realized that lee must me out training. How typical, but expected. After all, he was just exerting his youthful energy.

Walking past a few trees, the Kazekage spotted him. He was once again in his usual outfit, seemingly doing planche pushups, meaning he was doing push ups with only his hands touching the ground.

"Lee?"

Said man fell down, barely avoiding landing on his head by twisting in midair, landing swiftly on the balls of his feet only to wobble and settle down on the ground in a position similar with the Buddha Lotus. (1)

Lee looked up, and his face immediately softened, smiling gently. "Ohayo, Gaara-sama."

"Gaara." The Sand shinobi corrected, crossing his arms on his chest, huffing slightly in annoyance.

"What?" Lee said, sounding somewhat confused.

"It's Gaara."

"Oh."

There was silence.

Gaara didn't really know how to go about starting up the conversation they had last night, so he did what the impulses told him. He sent his chakra-infused sand out, lifting Lee to his feet. The older boy didn't have time to react before he felt insecure lips pressed against his own. When realizing what was happening, Lee slowly responded but running his tongue against the inner side of his bottom lip. It wasn't a 'I-got-to-have-you-now' kind of kiss, but it was still passionate enough to make the stoic boy's knees shake in excitement, staring at the closed eyelids in front of him.

_One problem down. Now what about the other five thousand? Are we… dating now? And if we are, what does that entail? When we go back, do we take him with us? Does he stay here? We have to be in Suna, so that's that. What if – _

They broke apart, a small string of saliva connecting their lips which soon bent under its own weight. Smiling a very tiny smile, the redhead buried his head in the taller boys' neck, arms snaking around the green clad waist, tugging him closer. A warm presence pressing down on his shoulders told him the embrace was mutual. He drew in a deep breath. This was Lee. And there was nothing but Lee and…

_How uncomfortable do we think it would be to do it up against that tree? _

Gaara closed his mind off for a second and just enjoyed the way the Konoha shinobi's chest went up and down slightly against his own, sensing a faint heartbeat beneath the thin layer of clothes.

Yeah. So maybe he didn't have to go back to Suna so soon. Because, there were so many important matters to deal with over here.

Like, finding out if it would be as comfortable doing it up against the tree as Gaara thought it looked right now.

* * *

**A/N**: Oh my god, this chapter was _soo_ long, I'm sorry if you fell asleep in the middle of it (Oooh, that had a nice Kakashi-ring to it, don't you think? ;o)! I mean, 23 pages! I said it would be a twoshot, but it probably would have better off a threeshot. I couldn't make the end _end _quickly and the pages just kept running. I realize this wasn't a very fast paced chapter either. If took, what, four and a half page to get Gaara out of Lee's lap (coz I subconsciously wanted him there, of course, but still, it's not good…) and maybe last five pages was cliché, I don't know, you tell me. And, god, you _might_ have noticed Gaara could seem a little OOC here, but I blame that on the alcohol. I particularly liked Ino in this chapter, she is an interesting character if written right (I hate fawning-obsessive-Sasuke-fan-girl-brainless-slut-Ino. DIE.). She was put in this fic because, duh, Gaara has a sick grudge against Sakura, and Ino's a medical nin, so… well, yeah. If I wrote drabbles, I'd write one about her (Drabbles are too short, I can't write them. They would turn out like this no matter what). Anyway, tell me what you liked, loved and hated. Feel free to flame, 'cause I'm in the mood for some entertainment. For all you good and nice reviewers, there are cookies in the back. :D


	3. An explanation left behind

**A/N**: Okay, here goes. The next chapters that actually get submitted will be somewhat like one-shots, because I can't promise I will be able to write a multichapter fic. I get easily distracted and cannot concentrate on only one fic. It is not in my nature. However, I will try to be as active as possible. To sum up, it'll be more like little stories in different chapters. I'm just blabbering, never mind. And, I have been playing _Explosive_ – _Bond _a thousand times, so sorry if this is a little… well, very enthusiastic in whatever's happening, whether it's angst or romance or whatever. Like, he felt an unstoppable _**rage**_ boiling up, for something like a frown directed at one or summat like that. I apologize. Explosive is a very dramatic song, and without lyrics the mind sorta just floats along with the song… Of course, you have to mix a bit with other songs too, but right now I'm obsessing over that song. o.O Some things in this world are meant to be. And I heart Explosive. Alright? It's really easy to understand. Not that you would care the least for what music taste I have. And, also, starting on this chapter, I have no idea what it should be about. So, if it is a bit random, gomen. Please, give me complicated ideas! It's not that hard. Turn a few wheels, click a few buttons, type up what you wanna see and click the submit review thingy down the bottom. It's very encouraging; I bet y'all know the feeling you get if you write your own stuff. This was a very long author's note, in my opinion. Let's get it started then, ne?

**Disclaimer**:No own, no sue. It's fairly easy to imagine that I don't own the manga Naruto, coz if I did they would _not_ sell them to underage kids, ne? XD There are just so much minors can take, and they would be scarred for life if exposed to such lewd ways that early in life. o.O So… Anyway…

**Pairings**: GaaLee, mentions of ShikaTema, KanKiba, KibaHina and hints of some very minor implied SasuNaru, and some KanIno too… ;)

**Warnings**: There will be a slightly silly plot. I guess the cussing must be M-rated, unfortunately. Shounen ai/yaoi. You have been warned. Don't like boyxboy, click the back button. Why you _wouldn't_ like it is beyond me, but… whatever. Minor fluff. MAJOR SPOILERS if you haven't read till 247 in the manga.

**Notice**: Gaara's inner thought are in _italic_, and music playing in the background will be in **bold**. Crossing of both are just to put _**emphasis**_on words in favor of using CAPITAL letters (capital letters will be used somewhat though), are we clear on that?

* * *

Gaara walked out of Lee's apartment, mood somewhere lingering between content and madly satisfied. They hadn't done it against the tree, granted. They could have been seen but just about anyone, and it wouldn't have been a very pretty first time memory, rushed and just in the middle of the forest. But that was almost better that way; the splinters would only have added more stiffness to his already steadily aching body. It was a bit annoying that Gaara hadn't had any painkillers, but could not really blame himself. There was just no way he would have guessed their relationship would progress so quickly. Although, they had been friends for six years. Maybe it was that. Maybe they had already passed their time limit. Gaara could not grasp the fact that people slept together on the first date, but they had already passed the acceptable date, so it was all good.

Gaara had told Lee he was just going to check up on his siblings. The older man said he'd catch up after taking a shower (He had been courteous enough to let Gaara use it first, and had, somewhat disappointingly not asked it they would together. Maybe that only happened in fiction, very cliché). Nevertheless, Gaara indifferently continued to walk, despite the growing discomfort of being alone. They had been so close, and suddenly he was out and all alone again. Well, he wasn't _**alone**_, per say, but he wasn't in accompanied right now. It would have been more pleasant to stroll alongside with the older jounin, but there was nothing to do about it. Besides, he would come after him later.

Gaara inwardly shuddered. He knew he could appear manically possessive, but he didn't want to go to the extent of never leaving Lee's side (which at the moment sounded fairly attractive, admitted). You got tired of too clingy people rather quickly, and Gaara had no desires to be tossed aside, even if the chances of that happening right now seemed pretty low. And, also, Temari would question him if the green clad man had chaperoned him. He would want to avoid any conversation with her about his life as long as possible. If could prove bothersome, especially if she would force the conversation to a deeper one, where Gaara had no answers.

He scanned the area for Temari and Kankurou. They were most likely to be in a large group with the other Konoha shinobi's. After ten minutes of searching, he found them, standing outside Ichiraku's. All but Kiba and Hinata were there. Hn. Kankurou had not been interested in the bog lover that way then. Or had he? Maybe Gaara was jumping to conclusions. People could be just friends. But in this village, many friendships had turned into romantic relationships, due to some unknown factor. The great thing was there was no judgments passed onto people because of who the loved. If Gaara, on top of everything else, had to worry about the acceptance of his friends, the weight on his shoulders would have been heavier to carry.

Naruto had spotted him, and he clothed himself with a genuinely sidesplitting grin.

"GAARA!" he shouted, running toward him.

_Stay. Sit. Away. Gomen, we don't have the strength for this right now._

The blonde threw his arms around his shoulders and jumped onto him, wrapping his long legs around his waist.

Gaara, being a virgin, was extra sore after sex, especially an hour afterwards. And, without painkillers, it ached dully. But now, adding Naruto's weight onto his own, it was rather painful. Very painful actually. It was worth it, absolutely, but he would not say no to something removing the pain in his lower body.

So, instead of standing tall and stoic like he usually would, he stumbled backwards into the ground, ass hitting the hard ground with violent '_thump_'. Oh dear God, that really hurt. That hurt so bad. At least he managed to stay upright, if he had smacked his head down too he'd be forced to cause Naruto some serious pain.

Gaara did not show any outwardly reactions to the pain save a twitch in his left eye. He simply stared back at the tan face a few centimeters from his own pale one. The cerulean eyes were dilated and the surprise pooled up in them. Usually, the Sand nin would not even wobble when the strong blonde threw himself at him.

"So… Did you grow weak since the last time we met?" Naruto asked cautiously, rising to his feet and sticking a hand out to offer it to the redhead.

Gaara scowled slightly at him and noticed all their friends were staring at them, as if he was an exclusive… freak job, or something else amusing. He sent a death glare towards Uzumaki who wisely withdrew his hand.

"I'm in pain." he answered bluntly, body wincing visibly as he rose to his feet.

"Ah." Naruto said, sounding as naïve as usual (except when he wasn't perverse. He seemed to be in an innocent mood right now). "Why?"

Again, if looks could kill, Naruto would be a saddening pile of blackened soot right now. You would think _**he'd**_ know.

"Oh my God…"

The Kazekage turned to look at his sister, who looked as if she'd been struck by lightning. Behind her, her fiancé was smiling somewhat evilly. So, Temari seemed to have come to the correct conclusion, and found the mental images repulsing. Well, well. There was really nothing Gaara cold do about it. If it bothered her, she shouldn't think about it. She should just repress it and never think about anything remotely connected to your siblings sexual encounters, much like Gaara permanently did.

A small chuckle. Gaara turned his head, readying a sharp glare. The Uchiha heir stood with a hand covering his mouth, eyes twinkling wickedly. He corrected his composure and removed the pale hand. He caught Gaara's eyes and sent him a look. A degrading look. A '_**So, you're a bottom**_' look.

_Die. Just die, you ugly little –_

Gaara tore his gaze away and turned to the other half of the group. He winced and restrained his need to just shout. Goddamnit, it really hurt. He had lived through worse, sure… But this was a little overboard for just having participated in sexual encounters with a man. Not that he'd remember that later, and he didn't want to either.

"I seem to have left all less necessary than emergency medical equipment in Suna. Is there anyone here who –?"

"I have!" Sakura said, and dug a hand into her leg holster.

Gaara felt the anger flare up, but not as fierce as before. There was a reason for that, of course. Sakura was no longer considered a high priority danger anymore. Or was she? Maybe Lee still liked his childhood crush? No. There was no way, there was no how. There was just nothing about her that was attractive in the least. Obscene pink hair, large forehead, less graceful personality… although, Gaara had to admit she seemed to possess the ability to be kind at many times, even though she mostly angered him.

The medical kunoichi walked to him, and he held his hand outstretched. into his hand she dropped a white, oval pill with some small letters on it.

"It'll last three, four hours, perhaps. Wanna stock up? I got thousands, Tsunade-sama made us do these a million times over just to make sure we could make them in a hurry on the battlefield…" she trailed off when she noticed he wasn't really that engaged in the one way conversation. She looked really down; people would usually listen very closely to whatever she had to say.

Gaara swallowed the pill, and it was like a knot tied in his belly. Sakura hadn't actually done anything, and he was treating her rather unpleasantly. But… there was something in his guts opposing to the idea of being polite towards her. He swallowed the discomfort and thanked his with a thin lipped smile.

"OHAYO!" Lee shouted from a distance, running towards them in a normal jogging pace.

Temari's eye twitched.

"Ohayo Lee-kun." Neji said, sounding monocle and knowing.

"Lee-kun!" Tenten yelled. "Where did you go off to last night? You didn't get to see me out-drink Neji!"

To Gaara's surprise, Lee did not blush nor stutter. If he had been in that position, he would have.

"I'm guessing you were so hammered when that happened you wouldn't be able to tell the difference between me and a chair anyway." he said, smiling.

"That's not true. I was able to tell people and furniture apart till the very end."

"Aha, but when was the very end then, Tenten?"

Tenten immediately shut up, and you could almost see a dark, rainy cloud attach itself above her head. Lee chuckled. Tenten was a woman who valued her pride more than her skin. Loosing, and accepting defeat was not her strong points. Which also meant her temper could waver between many moods in a short amount of time. Some might call her bipolar, some might call her 'lively' and in Gai's case, 'youthful'. That wasn't a surprise really as Gai thought of everything except murder and angst as youthful.

"Oh God…" Temari moaned again, sounding strained. All the pieces seemed to click in her head. If she chose to visualize it, tough shit, her problem.

"Are you done?" Gaara snapped at her, a rage starting to build up.

Temari paled visibly.

"I don't know what you're talking about." she said casually, clumsily trying to smooth over her behavior.

Gaara would have huffed, but didn't feel like it anymore.

A thousand question marks wanting to be straightened out attacked his brain, biting, clawing, _**gnawing**_ their way into the very center.

_How do we tell? Do we even tell?__ Will we ever tell? Is it worth the trouble if we have to leave? Do we have to leave? Is there some way for us to stay? Should we take him with us? Does he want us to take him with us? Does he want to stay? Does he want us to stay? Does he want us to leave? What if that wasn't Lee but some imposter? What if the real Lee hated him and didn't really want anything to do with us? GOD THERE ARE SO MANY COMPLICATIONS WE CANNOT COMPREHEND. OVERLOAD! DAMNIT!_

Gaara's trains of thoughts were in a huge disarray thanks to the cursed question marks, and ninety percent of his thoughts were totally unrealistic. But he got so nervous when the answers weren't in front of him or in reach. And this wasn't within his reach. Or was it? In fact, all he had to do were to ask Lee 'what do we do?'. They did have sex an hour ago, so he should be able to ask a question like that. But what if Lee just laughed it off? Maybe he didn't want to answer? Maybe he couldn't answer? And what if… There were so many negative consequences! What if, what if, what if, what if, what if, WHAT IF!

_Take a break, will we? Just… float where the wind blows._

Too cryptic, the Sand shinobi deemed it, and also, that left Gaara in a position were he had no power whatsoever, and that was bad. Gaara (almost… a few situations could be bypassed… sometimes…) had to be in control constantly. Always, at all times, wherever, whenever, however. Loosing control was such a pest, it led to such troublesome actions.

Most negative, but some positive. Gaara had to admit it wasn't all bad.

Anyway…

"Thank you." said the kunoichi's little brother icily, sending her looks that chilled her to the bone. And she though he maybe had loosened up a little bit, but no… He had, if possibly, been more wound up. In Gaara's case, this was not so good.

* * *

Kankurou woke up.

White dots everywhere.

At least he woke up in a soft bed in his room instead of somewhere out in the woods (when drunk and horny, the woods was as good as anything else), like he knew quite a few people would.

And his head might as well have been pounded into pieces, it hurt so bad. So, maybe he had a little much to drink last night. But he had every right to. A man with troubles was allowed to drink as much as they wanted. A nagging voice in the back of his head last night had constantly shouted at him 'Stop! You'll only feel worse and lonelier tomorrow! Drowning yourself in numbing alcohol isn't healthy! Stop it! Stop it, Kankurou! STOP!' But he hadn't stopped. After an hour, the annoying voice had died out completely to be replaced by a mantra chanting convincingly in his head, egging him to drink more. Have more fun. Life isn't fun now, is it? Rejected and left behind, aren't you? A lowlife without purpose and you're a burden for everyone. No one is your friend. Your friends don't turn their backs on you because of some girl. A girl without any pupils, either. A weak ass girl without any personality that'd _**always **_blush whenever spoken to.

What did he see in her anyway? A conversation wouldn't be that fun, since she barely spoke, much less started a conversation on her own, as far as Kankurou knew. She was one of the weaker jounin in the group and the puppet wielder would wipe the floor with her without even breaking a sweat. She didn't have any guts, let people spit on her and never stood up to anyone.

The middle Suna brother rubbed his head. How did he get here anyway? He sluggishly lifted the covers and squinted. All tan limbs attached, dressed in black, purple tinted boxers only. Yeah, right. Kiba had dragged him back to the hotel room. In his intoxicated state, he had foolishly clung to the younger boy and frequently asked why he couldn't stay there with him, in a pathetic platonic way, like a bud would ask another. Kiba had patiently explained Hinata waited for him outside. Hinata, Hinata, Hinata, HINATA. Always Hinata. Never Kankurou. Hi-na-ta.

Even though Kankurou always said she was so uninteresting, it was a lie. She had good qualities that he himself didn't possess the slightest. She was kind, caring, pretty, strong, social, modest and pure. There was really not much that was wrong with her. But it felt so much easier if she only had negative sides for him to repeat over and over again, somewhat easing his own pain.

Kankurou couldn't really remember what happened after he'd been dumped in his bed alone. He had obviously crawled himself out of his clothes and in under his covers, and then fallen asleep.

He thought briefly of yesterday's events in other point of views. Hinata and Kiba must have had fun, that's for sure. Shino and Chouji had seemed content too. And, he thought grimly, Temari and Shikamaru had enjoyed themselves a bit too much in his opinion. And Naruto must've had fun. That fox had drunk half the beer supply on his own, damnit! And he was still conscious when they last ones had offered to start cleaning up. Hinata – God. He just couldn't think of anything else. Kiba and that woman were imprinted on his eyelids.

He took a deep breath, unclenching his fists which he had apparently clutched around his quilt.

Well.

Kankurou guessed he had to get over his little grudge soon.

* * *

Gaara walked in silence. Before splitting up, the Konoha twelve and the Sand shinobi's had decided to all go dining somewhere nice together as an ending for their little weekend. It was a while till then though, so Gaara decided to find Kankurou, Kiba and Hinata. They had been absent during their little meeting and Gaara had said he could inform them about it. Neji had offered to do so, but Lee had insisted that the Byakugan user sparred with him this afternoon. Gaara had been less pleased about that, seeing as the pale boy was fairly attractive and it stung a bit. Lee should just be around ugly and annoying people. But no, that wasn't right. That wouldn't be much fun for Lee. He had to be with his friends. But his friends were too good-looking! Gaara would have to get the older man new friends. But that was a bit too controlling, wasn't it?

Gaara stopped that train of thought before it spiraled out of control. It was those sort of things that would disturb and unsettle him twenty-four hours a day if he got too much into it. Therefore, he dropped it and stared at his surroundings.

He couldn't see his targets.

Gaara stopped, closed his eyes and stretched his chakra sensing's reach as far as it would go. First he would look for Kiba. If Kiba wasn't with Kankurou, he was with Hinata and therefore the most logical person of the three to go looking for. And, when sensing it, even the young man's chakra felt obnoxious. And the pleasant tingle Hinata's chakra emitted was close by, not many inches from the dog lovers. Kankurou's wasn't with them. He was… at… the… yes, the hotel room. His chakra felt a little… swaying, to be honest. It felt like the chakra a sleepy kid would emit. Although, Kankurou was still in many aspects a child.

Kiba and Hinata were the closest, so he started walking their way. It would seem that they were sitting in one of the teashops a hundred meters away. Wonder what they were doing there? Maybe they had just ended up there together by coincidence? Not likely. Gaara had noticed they way Kiba would glance at the shy girl when he thought she couldn't see, which of course she always did as she thanks to her bloodline limit has a 360 vision. It was most likely Kiba had purposely ended up there with the eldest main branch Hyuuga girl. But there were some pieces of that puzzle left.

Gaara walked a little faster.

First of all, even if Kiba liked Hinata, didn't she have a soft spot for the equally obnoxious Naruto? And, secondly, if she did like the dog boy, wasn't that just replacing one blockhead with another? Thirdly, if Kankurou harbored non-platonic feelings towards Inuzuka, wouldn't Kiba and Hinata's merging upset him?

Anyway, that had to be put aside now. He could see two of his targets, sitting in a coffee shop called '_Sankaku hikoukai_', each with a steaming cup in front of them.

"Ohayo." he said quietly to the couple, who looked up, somewhat surprised.

Kiba nodded his head in recognition towards him, visibly a little miffed that the redhead disturbed them but also curious why.

"Gaara-kun. O-Ohayo."Hinata greeted shyly, gesturing weakly towards the empty chair standing next to their table for four.

"I won't disturb your time together and I have yet to find Kankurou so I'll be quick. I was merely to find you two to tell you that if you feel like it, we are all going out tonight somewhere and that you're welcome to join us."

"Going out doing what?" Kiba asked.

"Dining."

"Ah. I could not handle getting drunk today again, so I just wondered…"

"Yeah." Gaara's eyes darted to the door. "I must be going. Sorry for the interruption."

After hearing the usual 'it was no trouble, thank you for your visit' Gaara started strolling towards the Sen Susuwatari inn, which was less than one minute away.

The old woman behind the counter greeted him in a very grandma-like fashion when he came in, smiling and the wrinkles around her eyes magnified in a rather specific way. Gaara merely sent a look in her direction and walked up the stairs to the room. He slipped inside the room as quietly as he could, not wanting to wake him up if he actually was sleeping. It would be quite cruel. Besides, Gaara had nothing better to do for the moment being. He could wait until his older brother woke up from his drunken slumber.

"Gaara?"

Well, he wasn't asleep then. Good thing Gaara had not started going though the older man's packing in search of something entertaining. That would have been a bit embarrassing.

"Ohayo. Are you awake?"

"Yeah." Kankurou made no movement to get out of bed, only turned over so he faced the room and his younger brother.

"I just came to tell you something. If I am disturbing you…" Gaara saw the bored and foremost disrespectful look on Kankurou's face and decided to not be as friendly as he had formerly planned. "… you can just go to hell. All of us –"

"Which exactly are 'all of us'?" Kankurou said, eyes vaguely tinted with defiance.

Gaara sighed and tried to calm himself. Kankurou was obviously upset over something and was taking it all out on Gaara, but the most comfortable option of just walking out the door felt to inhuman.

"Well… Kiba is probably going to be there, and he'll probably bring Hinata." A flinch, barely noticed. "Neji, Lee and Tenten will be there. So will Sasuke, Sai, Naruto, Sakura and… Shino, Chouji, Temari and Shikamaru, and Ino. If the all choose to come then."

"I don't wanna."

_Alright. We give up._

Gaara got up and made for the door, but felt pricks of deception all over his body, like he was doing something unspeakable. God, this conscience could sure be a bother sometimes.

He turned around and walked to a chair, dragging in to the bed and sat down. He wasn't very good with this sort of stuff. It was easy to analyze people, mostly, but how to act so he wouldn't appear, grumpy, mean or inconsiderate was a substantial task. He rephrased the question a few times in his head, but it came out the same in the end.

"Why are you so down?"

Kankurou turned over, and answered darkly, "Why would you care?"

Gaara figured he was so depressed right now, it'd be better to rile his brother up so the truth would slip, because he was certain he would lie to get out of telling anything from his heart. He knew this because Kankurou avoided deep conversations in general, and it had to be because of a reason. Rile him up. That would be very easy.

"Don't make such assumptions. I merely asked why you felt so depressed, nothing else."

"What do you mean by that? That you don't care?"

"Now, what makes you think that?"

"Because you just said so!"

"No, I only explained my own question. You seemed to have misunderstood my purpose with it, so I thought I'd explain it to you, since you obviously have trouble imagine why I would ask such a question."

Kankurou blinked, taking a second to understand what he meant. Gaara had to admit he was actually very sharp when he wanted to be, even if the puppet wielder preferred to goof around. Not that there was anything wrong with… _**goofing around**_. God, Gaara hated games. At least those silly games where you gave and received nothing in return, like Kankurou often did. he sold himself out and let other have fun at his own expense, and it costs strength to laugh at yourself when everyone else is.

"Alright." Kankurou sat up, recognizing his little brother fighting technique. "You're serious then?"

"When am I not?" Gaara said, inwardly amused but outwardly not at all affected.

"Last night." Kankurou muttered angrily. "You seemed a little uninhibited back then."

Gaara darkened.

He knew exactly what Kankurou meant, and he felt a little angry still about the fact that Kankurou had interrupted what could earlier have eased the way into Lee's and Gaara's relationship. It was just none of his business. Gaara could understand if he felt protective, but he hadn't been in any danger of anything. So the brother's right to interfere was expired the moment he came butting in.

"You have no right to patronize or judge me. Is that clear?"

Kankurou was still a bit afraid of his little brother.

"Yes."

"Good. Now, would you mind answering my question?"

"Why should I? If privacy is so important and since you have no right to patronize me either, I don't see anything indicating that I should tell anything."

"Is it enough that I'm asking?"

Kankurou glared hard at him and Gaara sighed, putting two index fingers to his temple.

"Kankurou… I can tell there's something the matter. Can we not do this and just…" Gaara sent him a look. "… Do it the easy way?"

His older brother seemed to consider it, but it looked like there was something inside him that rejected the idea of being exposed.

"We can talk, but later, okay?"

"Okay. That is acceptable."

An eyebrow rose in the older shinobi's forehead.

"That is acceptable? What, if I had refused you'd _**make me**_, or what?" he snorted, looking amused at the very thought. He looked happier than a few minutes ago.

Gaara would have, too, lifted an eyebrow, but now there was this little snag; he didn't have any eyebrows. So he settled at a superior smile and a similar look.

"You don't think I wouldn't?"

"Let's not talk about that either, I still have my pride, man." Kankurou got out of bed and started going through his packing, obviously in search of some clothing as he stood sporting nothing but a pair of black boxers.

Not that Gaara was looking at him. He found it quite uncomfortable that Kankurou felt it was so normal being undressed. It could lead to some hooker-like tendencies, and that however was _**not **_acceptable.

After finding a casual outfit and putting it on, Kankurou turned to him, grinning.

"So, what's this dinner thing you're talking about?"

Gaara would have smiled it he wasn't Gaara.

_We are __**so**__ good, aren't we? He's not 'angsting' anymore! There should be some kind of payment for these good deeds. _

"As I told you before, all of our friends will gather together to go out somewhere to eat dinner together to enjoy each others company. The concept is not too hard for you to grasp, is it, brother?"

"Shut the fuck up." Kankurou shouted, clearly amused. "You're going."

"Yes. Will you or are you going to stay here sulking?"

"If it means that much to you…" He did a dramatic grimace. "… I guess I should go. I'll stay here with you sulking until then, though."

"That is acceptable."

Kankurou winched. "Could loosen up a little? You sound horrible!"

"Is there something wrong with the way I speak?" Gaara said matter of factly, knowing the content of this discussion already as it had been brought up only a thousand times back home in Suna.

"Yeah, it's freakish! Can't you be like a normal guy?"

Gaara stiffened.

"Know when to stop." he said sternly, feeling stung by that comment.

There was a few milliseconds of heavy tension dimming Gaara's vision.

Kankurou thought a second, and then his expression turned sheepish. A casual 'sorry' was uttered and the atmosphere was not so heavy anymore.

And now, there was only seven hours until they had decided to meet up at the Hokage building to choose a restaurant that everyone could go to.

Gaara could already hear a whiny voice penetrating his eardrums.

_**RAAAAAMEN! RAAAAAMEN! RAAAAAMEN! **_

* * *

**A/N**: Well. I had to idea it would turn out like this. Honestly. I don't know what made me write this. :o Not much action, was it? Mostly musings of different things, and Gaara obsessing over the same things over and over and over and OVER AGAIN. I guess its fun toying around with his character as he's so stoic. And, it wasn't very long, was it? Mostly boring. Gomen. And, what will happen during dinner? Surely something spectacular. Otherwise it'd be very boring. ;D;D;D I have one thing I KNOW will happen, but after that I don't know what'll happen, so please review me ideas. Order me what to do. And as you know, I'm a review whore, so post whatever you feel in them and I'll be amused/happy/inspired/like, astronomically happy. Cookies and cash to all of you. Peace. :D 


	4. A game and one missing

**A/N**: So, let's see… No, for the first time ever I don't have a long, boring author's note for you to be pissy about. Ha-ha. Or, no, wait, one thing; Skillet is so gooooood. All done, we can continue now. If this stupid author's note didn't repulse you so much you have go outside to get some air. (If you could just pretend to be nice) There, now I don't have to put any lyrics into this chapter, which interrupts 'The Flow'. This song has been plaguing me for God knows how long. Now, it's on paper! Sort of… Anyway, NOW we can move on.

**Disclaimer**: I own it. Own it all. The characters are _**mine**_.This is what I wish I could say. Unfortunately, I'm broke and Swedish, meaning I can't be Masashi Kishimoto. That sucks. Sweden sucks. Being broke sucks. In short, all sucks.

**Pairings**: GaaLee, minor ShikaTema, KibaHina, NaruSasu, KanIno and some one-sided KanKiba. These minor shippings are MINOR. Very minor. So there's really nothing to worry about if you hate them.

**Warnings**: There will be a slightly silly plot. I guess the cussing must be M-rated, unfortunately. Shounen ai/yaoi. You have been warned. Don't like boyxboy, click the back button. Why you _wouldn't_ like it is beyond me, but… whatever. Minor fluff. Still minor spoilers if you haven't read till 247 in the manga.

**Notice**: Gaara's inner thought are in _italic_, and music playing in the background will be in **bold**. Crossing of both are just to put _**emphasis**_on words in favor of using CAPITAL letters (capital letters will be used somewhat though), are we clear on that?

**Notice**** II**: Okay, so this isn't a twoshot anymore, it's a multichap. fic. So review and tell me to write more, or flame me and say I suck more than a vacuum cleaner. It will either inspire me or amuse me, whichever you choose since both really are necessary for this to continue.

* * *

Gaara stood outside the Hokage building alongside with Kankurou. They had just been arrived. They had spent some time on arguing calmly about sibling's right to interfere in each other lives (which all seemed to result in the same manner, 'I can interfere with your life, but _**you **_keep the fuck away from my affairs'), strolled around enjoying the scenery in Konoha, tried to guess where they would go eat later, stopped by a flower shop were Ino seemed to be behind the counter. She had greeted them and stuck them both a flower (a white to Gaara and a purple to Kankurou). When the boys had said thank you and merely stood there with it, she sighed and put it behind their ear, saying that it's summer, so everyone had to be a little less gloomy and that she'd meet up with them in a quarter to choose restaurant.

Gaara had wanted to throw the daisy off the second she disappeared out of view, but Kankurou advised against it as it could be seen as an unfriendly gesture when they met up later. Thus, Gaara kept it. A little feminine, but it wasn't like … yesterday… So the flower boys now stood silently and stared hard at either the sky or the ground.

"Hi." said a timid voice to the left.

It seemed like Kiba and Hinata had arrived.

Gaara sensed Kankurou tensing up beside him. There was something about this that he didn't feel so comfortable about. And he was certain there was something bothering his brother too. But for now, he decided to let is pass and merely greeted them with his usual lack of enthusiasm. After a few minutes, more people started dropping in. Team Gai arrived along with Shino and Ino. Shikamaru, Temari and Chouji arrived shortly after them. Sai and Sakura came five minutes after, clearly arguing about something. And lastly, Naruto and Sasuke arrived, yelling at each other, probably for something ridiculously meaningless.

Gaara waited five minutes to see if they could organize this themselves, but thinking again, it seemed unlikely. They were either chatting, yelling or staring at the ground. Why did they have to be so immature about everything? Shut up and be done with it already. But no, they just had to be so friendly and… talk.

When he thought it over, it didn't really seem like such a horrible sin after all. But still. It made Gaara impatient. And it didn't help adding the fact that Neji and Lee had been talking for a large percentage of the entire wait. It didn't bother him, it just… disturbed him so much he ad to step on his own foot so he wouldn't go over there and choke the side branch Hyuuga.

_Peace, quiet, tranquility, peace, quiet, tranquility, peace, quiet, tranquility, peace, quiet, tranquility. Deep breaths._

"Alright!" Tenten shouted, trying to get things going. "Where do we wanna go?"

A loud scream of "RAMEN!" (It pricked in his skin, that loud, annoying tone) contrasted nicely with three equally loud shouts of "NOT RAMEN!". It seemed being teammates had helped Sakura and Sasuke (why didn't Ino want to eat ramen anyway?) understand the unfortunately simple psychometrics of the loudmouth ninja.

"Aww, come on you guys!" Naruto whined.

Sasuke snorted, "Yeah, good one, Naruto. Now we all want to eat ramen just because you make yourself more annoying than usual. Brilliant technique, really. "

Naruto childishly stuck his tongue at him.

"Ino…" he turned to her, a lecherous grin on his face, laying an index finger on his pink lips, eyes screaming seduction.. "You know you wanna eat ramen…"

Ino eyed him for a second, but regained her senses quickly.

"No, ramen is fatty food. Besides, that's not very fancy food, is it?"

The blonde darkened.

"What are you saying? Ramen isn't good enough for you, or what?"

"I'm saying its trash food!"

"ARE YOU SAYING THE OLD MAN'S RAMEN IS BAD?!"

Gaara sensed this would turn into a full-blown fistfight right here at the spot if someone didn't do anything.

"Why don't we vote, okay? That way the majority of us get what they want." he said loudly, snapping the arguing duo back to their senses. "Those for ramen, raise your hand."

Needless to say, the ramen option was without shame brutally stomped on and mercilessly thrown away in a second with the outcome of one to fourteen. After a colorful string of curses, such as "Gay ass mother fuckers" (which was a strange one, as Gaara wanted to point out. Why would a gay man want to have sexual intercourse with a female?) and "uncivilized barbarian incest-results" he cooled of a bit.

"But, where will we go then?" Sakura said, casting glances around to see if anyone had any suggestions.

No one dared say anything (or chose to just spare themselves of the trouble) because of the certain yelling Naruto complaining about their lousy choice.

This could take a while.

Especially not after Ino said an acid little comment about ramen and some insult involving the words 'fatty food' again quietly under her breath, which of course Naruto intercepted and jumped at.

"I WON'T HAVE YOU BADMOUTHING THE OLD MAN'S RAMEN!"

"I'M NOT! I'M BADMOUTHING THE DISH ITSELF!"

"THAT'S AN INDIRECT INSULT!"

"NO, IT'S NOT! IT'S STATING FACTS!"

"THAT'S NOT FACTS!"

"YES, IT IS!"

"NO THEY'RE NOT! THEY'RE _**LIES**_!"

_Oh God…_

* * *

Lee walked into the restaurant "**Kakushigoto kankyou"** along with his friends, a restaurant with multiple menus, offering different foods, such as ramen, onigiri, sushi, domburi, yakisoba and the list goes on.

It had taken the group half an hour to get here, due to many unnecessary arguments. But now they were here, and about to spend some time with each other together. After deciding sushi would be his first dish, he sat down on the huge table made for fifteen next to Sakura who had chosen glass noodles. Lee inhaled deeply, willing his heart to slow down. Gaara was standing over there with Kankurou. Lee looked at him, but stopped quickly when he realized anyone could notice him ogling the younger boy. He had purposely sat down before Gaara, leaving a seat open next to him, leaving him two choices. Sit next to him, or not. Simple.

It wasn't that Lee was nervous at all about anyone knowing. But he had no idea what Gaara thought about it, and he wanted the younger male to make the decision himself.

After a minute, Gaara retreated from his brother's side and walked over to the table.

Gaara sat down on the other side of table, next to Ino. They now sat exactly across each other, and the redhead threw him a look.

The Konoha shinobi analyzed it and labeled the look 'Stoic me is not sitting there, but I would if it weren't for some unknown factor'. The unknown factor, Lee could immediately tell, was not what he thought others would think, but something else.

He decided to let it slip for now and talk with him later. The Kazekage was always easy to talk to, even if it was often short and clipped responses containing the truth and nothing but the truth which at many times could be way too harsh. But better to be brutal and straight forward than a sweet liar.

The jounin noticed Naruto was still sulking with a ramen bowl in front of him, staring angrily at it, as if the porcelain bowl itself (should Naruto really be near something so fragile?) was the bane of his existence. He was probably less pleased about the fact that it wasn't the Ichiraku Ramen, and was planning on guilt tripping everyone about it, too. No one seemed to care, though.

"So, Lee, how did your last mission go?" Sakura said, snapping her chopsticks in two and looked at him.

"Well, it was an infiltration mission, and I didn't really like it. We had to sit in their huge camp for five days before we got hold of the information we needed. And it was a blank, too. It seemed Tsunade-hime had let person who assigned us to the mission just go on a gut feeling which turned out to be wrong anyway."

"Aha." She slurped some glass noodles into her mouth. "But I meant the long term successful one before that one. I knew about the other one."

"Oh, that one. You know, I can't tell you seeing as the operation is still in action with different setting."

"Stamped confidential?"

"No."

"Tsunade threaten you?"

"More or less. It's all a matter of opinion, really." Lee said, rubbing the back of his head.

Sakura chuckled a muffled chuckle though her mouthful of noodles. She started saying something, but realized she would spray her mouth's contents on the table if she didn't swallow first. The pink haired kunoichi gulped it down with a clunk of water.

Lee patiently waited for her to regain the ability to talk, and using the time to throw Gaara a glance. It seemed he was talking quietly with Tenten to his left, and Lee could only hear random words from the conversation. He was glad to see Tenten was so friendly towards him. She always was, but still.

"So…" Sakura said, wiping her mouth. "Where'd you run off to after I danced with you last night? I didn't see you anywhere."

"I was sober, so I moved around, unlike some people."

She grinned.

He picked up his chopsticks and grabbed a nigirizushi piece (1), dunked it in soy and plopped it into his mouth. When she kept looking at him, he swallowed and grinned.

"Alright, so I was watching other people get drunk. Happy?"

"Very." She smiled. "Anything else but enjoying other people's misfortune?"

He frowned slightly. "When you put it that way it sounds bad. A better way to put it would be that I watched over them."

"Are, are, are. (2) You didn't seem to get my question. I didn't get any, did you?"

"Straightforward as always, ne?"

"Why not? So, didya?"

Lee laughed softly.

"So you didn't, then." She sighed and rubbed her temples. "God, go get laid already."

Lee forced a mild cough, empathizing how insulting that was.

"I could help you out, but unfortunately I just don't feel like it." She said cheekily.

"Still stuck on Sasuke, are you?" he shot at her, waiting for the reaction.

The pink haired medi-nin eyes quickly darted to the other end of the table and then back at him.

"No, and that was a long time ago, Lee, you should know better. It's… not him. It's someone else."

"I guessed that." he said knowingly, glancing indiscreetly at the sulking blonde ten seats away, making a point which Sakura got. Shrugging, she continued eating.

"Mhm." She swallowed another large bite of noodles. "Anyway, what about you? Anyone special you wanna share with me?"

He chuckled and stuck another salmon piece into his mouth which he almost choked on when he felt something slide up his leg.

* * *

Gaara sat down in between Tenten and Ino. How in the name of hell could they have gotten here in that amount of time? As expert jounin shinobi's it had taken them half an hour to walk a hundred meters. GOD. It pissed him off. But of course, he hadn't let it show. He knew if others knew they could get under his skin, they'd do it a lot more often. It isn't fun teasing a silent wall, and there's a reason for that.

This was just playing games. Ridiculous, unnecessary, stupid games that they in the end got nothing from. If one were to gain anything, he could see the purpose. But when it was done just _**because**_…

That was just annoying.

"Sit!" Ino said, dragging him to sit down next to her in between Tenten and herself.

He balanced the plate of onigiri on his free arm and slid it down on the stable tree table.

"So, you still owe me one, you do know that?" the blond female mused happily, reaching out to fiddle a bit with the white daisy. Only now it occurred to Gaara that Ino also had a flower behind her ear, one looking remarkably much like the one she had given Kankurou.

"What?" Gaara said uninterestedly, staring at his dish.

"Last night."

He blinked.

She stared at him in awe.

"Come on, you got to remember that. You ditched me on the roof? Well, now it's the last chance, so you gotta spill the beans!"

_Spill the beans? What is she, an idiot? Nobody says that anymore. Only old, ugly, wrinkly people. And old people are stupid. We don't like old people. They don't take us seriously and then they hate us when we try to squeeze their eyes out when proving we are on the same level. Old people should just die. But Gaara-sama! We can't say that! Old people have been young once, too, we know! But… We still hate them. We hate them, but we don't want them to die, do we? Yes, we do. _

"No, I don't remember." he lied smoothly, taking a small sip from his glass.

"Yes, you do. Now tell me." she pressed, stuffing some salad into her mouth.

"No, I don't. Now please, if you would excuse me…"

He tried to turn away from her, but found himself staring into the devious looking face belonging to Tenten, freak extraordinaire. Out of two bad things, he chose the latter. Now how to turn this whole thing around so he wouldn't have to say anything? Heart to heart conversations, admittedly, weren't his strong point, really.

"So, Ino-san, what about it? You weren't so accurate last night. I could even say it wasn't enough for me to indulge you any information." he thought aloud, hoping it would work.

She chattered on next to him, but he had lost the very little piece of interest the moment he heard a god-awful voice from across the table. It was that medi-nin again.

"So…Where'd you run off to after I danced with you last night? I didn't see you anywhere."

_Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Deep breaths. Peace, quiet, tranquility, peace, quiet, tranquility, peace, quiet, tranquility, peace, quiet, tranquility… alright, we're calm now._

"God, go get laid already."

His right eye twitched in a spasmic manner.

"I could help you out, but unfortunately I just don't feel like it."

_There are no words. She must die._

But when he saw the playful glint in his lover's eyes, he decided, though with great discomfort, that it might be going a little overboard if he knocked the table over, shoved a hand down her throat, ripping her innits out and emptying the stomach acids on her face. So he decided that, in a peaceful and discrete manner, he would mark his territory somewhat.

How to do that without Temari noticing (if she did, she'd probably start questioning him, and he had no place to run)?

And without killing or, how unintentional it could have been, cutting her head off.

_We knooooow…!_

Gaara knew too. He would have grinned, but didn't, seeing as it would attract attention. The playful and somewhat aggressive sparkle in his eyes could not be dimmed, however.

"Gaara, are you even listening to me?" Ino said, a little annoyed who apparently still talked to him.

"I hear you." he said smoothly, as stoic as ever.

He moved a bit closer to his table, giving him easier access.

"If you heard me, repeat what I just said."

He shot her a blasting glare of death lasting a second, said in a cold voice "Don't give me orders, Yamanaka." and then turning his focus back onto the wall behind Lee's head.

She seemed to shrink a bit and remained silent.

The redhead raised his foot and measured the length of the table along with Lee's seating position. His legs should be right about… **_there_**.

He fought the immediate urge to chuckle evilly when he saw Lee choke on whatever food he had in his mouth. Quickly retracting his foot from the older man's upper thigh, he waited for a reaction.

The Konoha shinobi blinked several times, and then returned his attention back to Sakura, dismissing the touch as an illusion.

Gaara once again slid his foot up the length of the older boy's leg and this time Lee stiffened visibly. How gullible he was, it was so cute. Then again, if Gaara had been in the same position, he wouldn't believe it either.

Gaara didn't play games.

This wasn't a game.

This was just drawing the line.

And he was just making sure Lee were to remember that Sakura was not allowed to cross that line.

Lee caught his eyes, and the younger male blinked in a very innocent manner while rubbing back and forth on the tan thigh.

"Yamanaka?" he said, directing it towards Ino. She turned and stared at him.

"I know it isn't my place, but I have to at least ask."

She waited.

"What did you do last night?" Gaara calmly questioned, starting a conversation which was a rare occurrence.

"Well…" Gaara snapped with chopsticks, preparing to dig into his yakisoba. "I was with Temari for a bit, but then she went off with Shi –"

There she came to an abrupt stop, probably because she didn't know if Gaara knew.

And so did Lee when his foot ghosted across his crotch.

"I have known about them a long time. Do you want to conti–"

"Okay! And, I ran around with Tenten looking for pretty boys a while, and when she went to that shot thing, I drank a lot and dared to dance with a lot of people! Did you know Sai could dance? I had no idea, I just assumed with his kind of everyday clothing, which I love, by the way, he'd be somewhat or a wild one, but he turned out to be kind of cute and a little clumsy but still twice at good as me, and…"

Gaara felt bad, but he lost interest. How could he not?

He just enjoyed watching Lee squirm in his chair when his playful, teasing motions quickly mover onto somewhat more sexual innuendos.

_This is fun! _

Suddenly, a female brunette burst into the restaurant, seemingly running at a dangerous speed. She looked around, and caught Gaara's eyes.

Shizune.

The entire restaurant turned to look at her, and Gaara felt the playful spark he had before slide out of him onto the clean floor, dying down.

"Kazekage-sama!" she shouted, and he sensed something was wrong. Her aura of chakra was swirling about in a disruptive, angry pattern, and there was something ominous about her intentions.

She ran forward to him, and ripped him from his seat.

"There is a messenger from Suna at the Hokage tower, but she's been running in a hectic pace for such a long time we can't manage to get the message she's supposed to deliver from her because she's so worn out. Maybe if she can see a familiar face she'll sober up a little. Hopefully, this will only take an hour of your time if everything goes well."

Gaara wondered what could be the explanation. One could of course be the courier-nin was a beginner and didn't know not to exhaust herself to the point where she couldn't speak. Or she could have been attacked on her way here. Or it could be urgent news, or… It could be a lot of bad things.

Gaara excused himself and himself only from their activity. Temari and Kankurou had, of course, on some level felt they needed to come with him but he had quickly debunked that idea. Those two were here for the sole purpose of enjoying themselves. He'd deal with this matter alone. It was probably nothing more than some silly notice the counsel felt they needed to inform him of just to bother him on his free week.

At least, that's what he told himself when he ran towards the Hokage building.

When arriving, the medi-nin beside him tensed up.

He knocked on the door leading into Tsunade-hime's office.

The door lid open, revealing a grim blonde sitting behind her desk and a worn out brunette ninja sitting on a chair next to the window, who had clearly received some medical help.

"What is this about, Tsunade-hime?"

"A kunoichi from your village has gone missing. This courier-nin tells me you know her. A Torikki Matsuri (3)."

_No…_

* * *

Temari was fuming.

"Gaara will be returning to Suna immediately." Shizune announced to the Konoha ninjas and the Kazekage's siblings, standing in front of their large table

"But why?!" Temari asked, furious that she couldn't get any information out of the medi-nin any quicker.

"He was informed of crucial business he had to attend to in Sunagakure."

"Will you just _**STOP** _tiptoeing around the issue and tell me what _**the fuck**_ he was called back for?!" she screamed, shocking her friends who probably were thinking about if they should restrain her for the Hokage's niece's safety.

She didn't give a shit. Let them try.

When she didn't answer for the second time, Temari started reaching for the enormous fan on her back.

Shikamaru sensed serious danger and stepped in front of her, asking lazily, "Why can't you answer?"

"Because I don't know if I'm allowed to spread it any further than necessary." she answered, biting her lip and hugging the tiny little pig (Tonton, was it?) closer to her chest.

"But this is the Kazekage's elder sister. She should be allowed to be let in on these sorts of things, don't you think?"

"Well…" her eyes darted towards the door and to the close to raging Sand siblings. "I guess…"

"Then what the hell's going on?" Kankurou asked loudly.

"A kunoichi Gaara is close with from your village has gone missing."

A woman?, was Temari's first train of thought. What the hell… Temari wanted to groan. Please, he didn't have someone back home too, did he?

"I believe all of you at least know who she is."

Temari waited in silence for an identity to match with the missing kunoichi.

"Torikki Matsuri, Gaara-sama's first student."

Oh.

Matsuri was missing?

Fuck. Damnit. SHIT. She had to get home.

"Come on, Kankurou, we're leaving."

Kankurou nodded, looking dark.

"Hey, wait a second –!" Tenten started, but the Sand Siblings had already exited the restaurant.

"Looks like their vacation was cut short." Neji said spitefully, breaking the silence. He had never really liked them anyway, especially that fucking crazy Gaara.

* * *

(1) Nigirizushi – Small rice balls with fish, etc. on top.

(2) Are are are – Means something like; "Oh my" or "My, my, my…"

(3) Her name is not Torikki (which means tricky), but she needs a last name, so, there you go. Torikki. In case you didn't know this, she is the one and only student from the Suna Academy who chose Gaara to be her sensei in a filler arc, and she is also seen during the post-time skip 'Rescue Gaara arc' on the squad pursuing Gaara along with Temari, Kankurou, Baki and some unknown Suna shinobi's.

**A/N**: OH NOEZ! MATSURI! A BIGGER NOEZ! THE PLOT EVOLVES! Heehee… I'm hooked up on sugar right now, gomen. And, yes, alright, I know I don't do a good Lee, but what to do? I don't want him to be insane and all; "YOSH! YOUTH! BEAUTY!" and shit, so I made him… well… what is he? Boring? Calm? Too sane? And, I have planned the next two chapters out, but they won't be out for a while since I'm already swamped in homework and shit… And now, shifty eyes, why don't you review and tell me what you thought? Hate it? love it? Just plain like it? Tell me! I love vocal people… hidden meaning… XD Cookies and cash for y'all. :D

Here's a treat for you:

All the courses, in case you don't know what they are:

Ramen – Chinese style noodles prepared in a soup with various toppings. (If you don't know that by now, you need to reread Naruto)  
Yakisoba – Fried or deep fried Chinese style noodles served with vegetables, meat and ginger.  
Onigiri **–** Rice balls wrapped in a seaweed, usually a nori seaweed.  
Domburi – bowl of cooked rice with some other food put on top of the rice. Some of the most popular toppings are tempura (tendon), egg and chicken (oyakodon), tonkatsu (katsudon) and beef (gyudon).

Don't think I'm Japanese, not even close to. This? Research. You probably don't think I am Japanese, but just to make things clear. :D


	5. Slipping patience and desperation

**A/N**: I'm SO SORRY it's so late, I got sick AGAIN. Lovely. I can't pronounce the letter 'm'. I'm… so… tired… I can barely type. I hate school. Why do I have to go?! I'm so _tired! _Can't I just stay home on these early days? My jaws and my fucking _**elbows **_hurt! There is something so wrong with this universe. I talked with my friend today, who also reads Naruto. She was, like, NaruSasu/GaaLee? What is that? And I was, like, I'm dying a little inside here. Guess what it is! And when she understood, she just; "**EEEW! GROOOOOSS**!" and I wanted to kill her. Stupid… gah… Anyway, we switched to PotC and she is twisted even in that area! "_I wanted Jack and Elizabeth to get together!_" and shit. There is something wrong with her. Jack and Elizabeth? NO! Will and Elizabeth? Weeell… I don't really like that one either… But… Anyway, I'm mad at her. I'll do some hate crime towards her tomorrow, like hiding her pen or something drastic like that. Heehee… I'm not funny. Now that we've established that, let's move on. (FLYLEAF, FLYLEAF, FLYLEAF, FLYLEAF. There, NOW, we can continue.)

**Disclaimer**:Hm… I don't even have enough money to buy gum right now… And I ate pancakes for breakfast three days in a row instead of the sushi I wanted. Do I sound like Kishimoto Mashashi? No, I don't. Unfortunately. I hate that. Otherwise I could make the characters do whatever I want them to do… heehee… XD

**Pairings**: GaaLee, minor ShikaTema, KibaHina, NaruSasu, KanIno and some one-sided KanKiba. These minor shippings are MINOR. Very minor. So there's really nothing to worry about if you hate them.

**Warnings**: There will be a slightly silly plot. I guess the cussing must be M-rated, unfortunately. Shounen ai/yaoi. You have been warned. Don't like boyxboy, click the back button. Why you _wouldn't_ like it is beyond me, but… whatever. Minor fluff. Still minor spoilers if you haven't read till 247 in the manga.

**Notice**: Gaara's inner thought are in _italic_, and music playing in the background will be in **bold**. Crossing of both are just to put _**emphasis**_on words in favor of using CAPITAL letters (capital letters will be used somewhat though), are we clear on that?

**Notice II**: Okay, so this isn't a twoshot anymore, it's a multichap. fic. So review and tell me to write more, or flame me and say I'm such a bad writer kids would laugh at my dialogs. :D

**NoticeIII**: BETA, anyone? puppy eyes

* * *

Gaara was beyond anger. More needed not to be said.

Well, actually, more needed to be said. If someone had said he was furious, the person would have been standing too far away. Like, a continent too far away. If someone had called him raging, the person would need glasses or possibly a new brain. The feeling could not be labeled 'fuming', seeing as the verb was incorrect; Gaara was more than bursting with anger and was _**not**_ seething quietly. Wrathful, provoked and infuriated would shriek in horror and run away to take shelter. Now we're closing up on how Gaara was feeling.

Just how _**fucking stupid**_ were the inhabitants of Suna?! How could you be in inexplicably stupid to send such an alarming message to him when _**the fucking investigation was still not completed?!**_What moronic _**fuckhead **_could be so eager to ruin the Kazekage's life with these _**false**__**alarms**_?!

He had to establish some sort of rule to banish idiocy.

Or even better, banish everyone from Suna so he was all alone and protected from their contagious disease.

But if he did that, there wouldn't be anything for him to protect as the Kazekage since he drove his own people away.

He needed to find some miracle to cure idiocy.

Perfect.

How did you invent a medicine to cure idiocy?

"You're joking?" Kankurou said incredulously when Gaara exited the board's counseling room. "False alarm? How can you fucking get false alarm about someone missing? Where is she?"

Gaara stared at his older brother. Sometimes he could not comprehend with the fact that Kankurou was so bipolar. At certain times, he was so sharp he would beat Shikamaru's ass in shougi and drag him around town, and in other cases he could walk straight into a glass door, believing it was nothing but air in his way. (1) At the moment, it annoyed him. He wished he had some sort of machine to transfer his memory into his sibling.

Why didn't Kankurou just arrive at the same time?

Gaara had arrived in Suna half an hour before Kankurou, who strangely had not been accompanied by Temari. The older nin had told him Shikamaru had told her to stay for safety reasons and that he would explain later. Kankurou was not allowed to attend their meeting, so he waited outside. Gaara could understand why. Matsuri had grown to become very important to his older brother. Also, she had shown Gaara that he didn't have to change to make people like him, and that people are allowed to be different.

"She is in Takigakure." Gaara said in a monotone voice.

"How come she was labeled 'abducted'?"

Gaara sighed. This was, quoting his soon to be brother in law, going to be troublesome.

"As you know, she doesn't have a legal guardian to tell her she needs to ask permission of the counsel before leaving the village. One of her girlfriends had told her the process would take such a long time. She had also told her to just go and that she would handle the counsel and tell them Matsuri was not to be labeled as a missing-nin. However, this woman, Tsunanai Asuka, was badly wounded on an A-rank guarding mission and is currently in a light coma."

Kankurou lifted one eyebrow.

"That's convenient."

Gaara nodded, "Matsuri knew she was going to get away with that. That's probably why she did it, too. Even though it is violating the exiting paragraphs."

His older brother nodded too.

Gaara now moved onto the newer domains.

"Not that I blame her or you in any way, but why did Temari not accompany you here?" Kankurou furrowed his brow. "I would have guessed she'd be more persistent than you to leave."

Kankurou visibly darkened and the Kazekage wondered if he had said something less pleasant.

"No, Shikamaru asked her to stay."

Gaara wanted to laugh. "Why would she obey him?"

His older brother sighed and started moving his hands in irregular patterns, as if speaking some sort of signal language.

"Gaara, you don't always have to order people things. You can ask them, and they can do what you ask because they're kind."

Gaara stared at him, clearly bored.

The brunette coughed nervously, "Ah, there's also this… _**tiny **_little thing that probably requires her to… ah, stay put… See, you know that Shikamaru and she are… God… And when they… Not that I would know anything about… I don't… Konoha is best for… these sort of…well, she… You know, their wedding, and there's this little… I… It's very common among other people that when a… L-l-like, when you really… I-I-I-I gotta go to the bathroom."

He started to turn away and probably run for it, but a heavy hand of sand descended on his shoulder and told him he wasn't going anywhere at all.

Gaara stared at him with his ice-cold eyes and spoke in a tone that'd put frozen yoghurt to shame; "Speak."

"S-s-s-she's…"

Gaara stared more intently on him and was surprised Kankurou's bodily temperature had not yet reached minus under his murderous stare.

"Speak."

"S-s-s-she's – "

"Kankurou – "

"She's pregnant and needs to stay in Konoha for examination!" he blurted and threw his arms up over his face, as if expecting something to hit him.

_WHAT?_

That was impossible.

Temari had…

_Oh God. No…_

Gaara didn't even feel that angry spark he felt when he found out about them the first time.

He felt an unfamiliar feeling.

… _Fear_.

* * *

"Temari, you know you shouldn't follow them. If she's missing, there's nothing you can do about it. I can't let you go on missions like those. Please let's not have this discussion again, I hate having to be like this."

"But they're my brothers!"

"It's not just for your own safety now, okay!" Shikamaru wanted to tell her to stop being selfish, but that would have been beyond the limits of cruel. "Otherwise, I know I couldn't stop you, but when it's like this – "

"I know I shouldn't! But can't I be allowed to be worried?! It's not just them! What about Matsuri?! I've known her since she started the academy! She's not just some brat to me! And to have gotten into Suna and just abducted her like that – these guys must be really dangerous! Kankurou and Gaara will… I can't just sit here!" She sounded hysterical.

Shikamaru stared at the woman sitting on his couch.

There was no reasonable and fair way to solve this.

Of course Temari was worried. He couldn't imagine how he would feel if he was in her position, and he didn't even have any siblings to compare with. But it could maybe come close with what he felt when Ino was near death during one of their many failed Sasuke retrieval missions. But she is their sister. They are related. Maybe it felt different that way?

No, it couldn't be.

But he still understood how hard this must be.

Her body started quivering with silent tears and she dragged her knees to her chest and buried her face into them, obviously she didn't want him to see her crying.

She knew he knew she was. But it felt better that way.

And, on top of that, Temari had to worry about her doctor's notice. She had taken the pregnancy test two days ago, the morning after the party. When it had shown positive, she had broken down and cried. The amount of alcohol she had downed was not good for the baby, and could possibly injure the baby to the extent he or she would die. She had, of course, fixed an appointment with Shizune, and the medi-nin had done everything in her power to help them, but the result of whether the baby would live, die; get some sort of sickness or be born with some bodily malfunctions were still to be received.

The only reason he himself was so calm about this was that if he, too, gave into the overwhelming fear stabbing his guts, Temari would certainly go down.

He also wanted to cry out of desperation, but that would only cause Temari more pain.

She didn't need to worry anymore.

There is so much one human could take in one single week.

So he quietly sat down next to the strongest woman he'd even seen, sobbing quietly, and drew her into a warm embrace, wishing he could shield her from everything.

"I'm sorry…" she murmured into his neck. "Can we talk about something else?"

"Mm." he answered, words getting slightly muffled through her hair. "Like what?"

"I don't know… The wedding date?"

"We already have that. Remember? You decided that it would be held in nineteen days yesterday."

"I did? I did not."

"Troublesome woman. You did."

"Did not. But I can do it now." she mused, giving him a playful nip on his earlobe.

"Abuse." he answered dead seriously, and if you didn't know him, you'd think he wasn't joking.

He leaned back on the couch and Temari followed suit. She was being awfully cuddly and soft. Very un-Temari, like.

* * *

Gaara was stuck.

He sat in his private room in the Kazekage building, door open into his office with the stack of paper towering on his desk.

This certainly was a tricky situation.

Temari needed someone right now, and he was not allowed to leave Suna, and neither was Kankurou. The redhead had already decided he was going to send Kankurou there, period. But it was going to be a bitch to force the counsel to allow it.

Gaara was going to send Kankurou away _**now**_, and deal with the bunch of old, rule-obsessed people _**afterwards**_.

Suna was currently understaffed and the extreme lack of ANBU present in the city made it ridiculously difficult to get a high-rank ninja out of the village. He had a more than decent reason, granted, but it was still a personal one, and those were hard to get approved because of the shinobi rule book which at times sounded colder than ice. Gaara would six years ago spit on it because of the contents (_We do what we have to. We don't like regulations…_) and would gladly do the same right now.

How could it be so… wrong?

Kankurou had to go there. There was just no other way.

"Kankurou." he called to his brother in the room connected to the one he was currently residing in.

"Yeah?"

Gaara rolled the document in his hand into a paper spyglass and sealed it. He motioned for his older brother to take the document.

"This is an exchange scroll. I will have to…" Gaara grimaced. "… _**persuade **_the council to let you get back to Konoha, but that will take too long time if we are to do this according to the legal system. Therefore I will send you away now, and you will give this scroll to a jounin in Konoha. They will switch places with you for an undecided amount of time. It is absolutely necessary you give it to someone who is the same rank as you, because if I get a chuunin in exchange for a jounin, the council will force me to dispose of the lower rank and order you to return home."

He eyed his brother.

"Are you okay?" he said. They had, in six days, gone to Konoha and back again. That was, despite what ninja you were, exhausting. It was running for over seventy hours with brief pauses. That was not only hard, but also boring.

"Yeah. Give it." he said tiredly, and made a grab for the document.

Gaara snatched it away. "You seem tired. Maybe I should send someone else."

Kankurou looked aggravated and sighed irritably. "I'm fine, damnit! Now give it!"

Gaara stared hard at him, and his younger brother squirmed under his stare.

"Besides, who else would you send, oh mighty Kazekage? In case you didn't notice, there's no spare brother to send!"

He snatched the scroll out of the pale hand and exited the room with storming steps. Gaara merely took a deep breath. Of course there was no one else he could send, but Kankurou wasn't really healthy either, whether damage had been inflicted to his emotionally or not.

He moved to stand by his window.

Through the smooth glass, he could see the entire village. The training grounds, a patch of hard earth close to the academy. The playground, which he had viciously hated when he was a kid. Well… Maybe not the playground itself, but what it had done to him. He had always sat there and observed the kids playing when he could never participate in their games. They had always fled when he moved to join them.

He rested his forehead against the cool glass.

He remembered the time he had almost unintentionally crushed a child with his cursed sand. He would have, too, if it weren't for Yashamaru.

Yashamaru.

The first person who had loved him. Or so Gaara had thought.

Even though Yashamaru had hated him enough to sacrifice his own life to see him dead, Gaara still had an empty place inside his chest for his uncle. The young man had taught him so many things, and had, despite his own feelings, at least tried to love him. No one had even tried before. When Yashamaru had blown himself up, Gaara had hated him. He hated him so much he couldn't breathe.

But with time he realized his uncle had been a good person, and actually had a reason to hate him. Unlike all other people around him who had made him what they hated him for. For that, he admired the deceased man.

At the same time he still hated him.

But there was something inside him that couldn't… wouldn't only hate him.

And that was fine.

Maybe he should go visit the mass memorial where Yashamaru was rested. In all honesty, the Sand nin wasn't buried there because his body had been completely annihilated in the explosion, but it was still a memento for him and maybe two hundred other lost ninjas.

He hadn't been there for a long time. Last time must have been in March…

* * *

Kankurou stood in front of the gates of Konoha the second time this week.

Leave document to ninja, find Temari, and kill someone.

That was his to do list today. And it seemed he'd get to check the first one already.

Maybe twenty meters away, Yamanaka stood loosely, talking to Tenten, the male Hyuuga and Lee. He quickly walked to them, and the girls noticed him first (Neji probably did, but chose not to greet him). "Hey! Why are you – "

"False alarm." he interrupted harshly. "Where is Temari?"

Ino appeared to be thinking hard, and Neji answered curtly for her; "She's in the hospital."

"Yeah." Tenten said, looking somewhat guilty. "Her final check up is finished and she's waiting there for the results."

Kankurou blinked. What was her probl– oh. OH. She was the one who Temari… Oh. Well, now he had one less problem to think about; finding someone fit to kill. He'd just kill this excuse for a human instead. He wanted to just tear her apart and decorate his room with her lungs, but he restrained himself. He knew she didn't know, and that she hadn't got Temari drunk on purpose (more like Temari had challenged her), but when faced with these situations he had never been very fair.

"Here. Please choose someone rather quickly." With that, he started running towards the hospital.

When he got there, the end was still far away. He didn't have any necessary information for the woman behind the desk and she refused to tell him which room she was in, and kept telling him he needed to give her some documental proof he was really the pregnant woman's brother.

Kankurou had another victim in case Tenten decided she would be the one to temporarily transfer to Sunagakure. This receptionist was going to get herself killed this way, he just knew it. After half an hour of violent and aggressive arguing, the hopefully brain damaged receptionist (otherwise she wouldn't have any excuse for her behavior), the Suna ninja crashed into his older sisters room.

Shizune and Sakura stood silently by the bed. Temari was sitting in the hospital bed, leaning against the wall with her long legs dangling of the bed. Shikamaru sat in a chair, elbows on his knees and face pressed into his palms.

The atmosphere was… silent or maybe… no, muted.

"Kankurou-kun. Ohayo." Sakura said in a calm tone, almost like the receptionist when she started talking to him.

"The baby…?" he started, but trailed off. It wasn't his place.

Shikamaru's shoulder's shook and Kankurou noticed the shadow nin was crying.

He cast a glance at Temari. Her tan cheeks shone with tears.

Shizune opened her mouth to answer, but the Suna kunoichi raised a hand to silence her. She lifted her head away from the wall and stared her younger brother dead in the eye.

Kankurou couldn't analyze her.

Meanwhile, Ino stared at the document in her hand. She unrolled it and started reading. Tenten poked at Neji's shoulder.

"Ne, Neji, what does it say?"

With Neji's vision, he could read it even though the letters weren't on his side of the paper. He quickly scanned it and said in a monotone voice; "It's an exchange document. One Suna shinobi, obviously that miscreant, come here, and one Konoha shinobi goes there. It's a really simple concept between allies which have an enormous downside, though."

"What is that, Neji-kun?" Lee asked loudly (according to Neji, anyhow), seemingly as happy and exuberant as usual.

"Allies between villages was earlier a very strong bond, which was when the first version of this document was written." Neji spoke as if reading it from an encyclopedia, slow, monotone and matter of factly-tone. "In our time the alliances are mostly for show to frighten of other enemy villages by showing them there are two against one, and this document is a very blunt way of showing that they are short on shinobi's, and if that is shown to any village, the most likely outcome is that the acquired knowledge will make the other village turn on them."

"How unyouthful." Lee said sourly, crossing his arms and darkening, but quickly lightened up again. "Well, this isn't that kind of village, so this is just a sign of trust! Right?"

Neji gave him a long look that said: "I wouldn't say that, since I'm plotting many Sand shinobi's arranged deaths."

"Aren't we to take it to Tsunade-hime?" Tenten said, grabbing the document and ripping it from Yamanaka heiress's hands (HEY!).

"Not necessarily." Neji said as Ino stole the opened scroll back. "If jounin or higher, we are authorized to make this transaction ourselves."

"Great!" Ino yelled as she finally got a hundred percent hold on the scroll. "And since I have it, I get to pick who should go!"

"Not really…" Neji pointed out, and he started to feel much like Shikamaru. How troublesome this was. "They have to be willing."

"All a matter of persuasive abilities, then." she joked, sticking her tongue out at the Byakugan user. "Or who offers the most, of course." she winked at Tenten. "I'm conveniently out of cash right now, girl… whatcha say?"

"Who would pay to get to _**Suna**_?" the older female said arrogantly, and then made another grab for the document which failed as Ino was a good five centimeters taller than the brunette.

"Because it's most likely just sitting around and doing whatever you please with cute new guys, since you've already gone through this entire village _**twice**_."

"Are you calling me a slut?"

"No, I'm saying there's nothing for you here. For a small amount of payment you could have the love of your life!"

"Or, I could just take it from you and there'd be no charge!" she shot back, eyes twinkling with playfulness.

She launched herself at the blonde who fell to the ground with the older female straddling her. Ino put a hand in her face, and thanks to her long arms, Tenten could not reach the desired object. The rolled around a couple of times, document passing between the two, and finally Lee had enough of the friendly fighting when he saw Tenten reach for her itching powder.

"That's quite enough, don't you think, Tenten-chan, Ino-chan?" he said, laughing as he lifted the older female off the younger one.

Ino jokingly battered her eyelashes at him in a mocking manner. She spread her arms and struck a helpless princess pose.

"My hero! I ask of you to take this gift, as a token of my gratitude." she said in a high voice and held the slip of paper in front of him, dangling it next to Tenten's neck. The older kunoichi growled at her and wriggled in Lee's gentle but firm grip.

He let go of Tenten who threw herself at the document and missed.

"If Tenten want's it so much, just give it to her." Neji said in an annoyed tone which clearly said he wasn't amused by their antics.

Ino appeared to be thinking, then stuck the document dog her leg holster and her face turned dead serious.

"I can't let you go." she said in a solemn tone.

"Why not now then?" Tenten muttered as the picked herself off the ground, brushing imaginary and some not so imaginary dust of her petite frame.

"Didn't you see how pissed Kankurou-kun was?"

Tenten blinked and got that sad look on her face again. Of course, she somewhere felt what happened to Temari was her fault, even though it wasn't. "Yeah, he looked like he wanted to kill me."

Ino stared harder at her. When Tenten only adopted a lost puppy look, she sighed and explained: "If Kankurou was that angry…"

Seriously. Nothing but net. Was this woman really twenty?

"… How do you think Gaara-sama reacted?"

Tenten turned white and her dusting movement became steely spasms. "Yeah, so, Konoha guys are good too. I don't need to go to Suna for guys…"

"I figured." She gave her a clap on the slumping shoulder and turned her attention to Lee. "You're the one Gaara wouldn't hurt if transferring there."

Neji snorted, putting his arms in a cross on his chest.

"So he would hurt you the least. Could you sacrifice yourself for the sake of us other mortals?" she joked gently and pulled the paper out for him to see.

"Yosh! I'll go to Suna. It is my duty as a Konoha shinobi." he said, did the nice guys pose (NO! screamed down Ino's spine) and snatched the piece of paper, looking excited. He cast Neji a glance. "Gaara-sama wouldn't hurt me, Neji-kun."

A look which could be read as either "You keep believing that" or "I would hurt you now."

"So you'll go? Wohoo! How fun!" Tenten whooped, smacking his back.

"Why would you want me to go away?" Lee's obsidian eyes pooled up with tears. "You don't want me here?"

She hit him over the head. "Of course I want you here! Dumbass!"

"But why'd you 'wohoo' then?" he mumbled, sounding like a wounded animal laying in a dark street corner. A cute, irresistible animal, like a bunny or a kitten.

"Because…" Tenten explained patiently. "This might help you in your…" she blanched a little bit. "_**Quest **_of getting accepted into the ANBU roots!"

Lee's eyes sparkled and another word would have set his eyes on fire in excitement.

"YOSH! ANBU TOP ROOTS! SUNA!" He started to run away, but came to an abrupt halt and spun around. "I'm going now…" he spoke with barely contained glee, as if the three Konoha ninjas had not understood where he was headed off to.

"We got it." Ino said, waving.

The leaf nin disappeared in a cloud of dust and they just stared at the spot the bowl cut guy had stood not a millisecond earlier in amazement.

"He's fast." Neji commented sourly.

"Well, there's no wonder he's in a hurry." Ino answered lightly, dragging a hand through her ponytail.

When the two older ninjas stared at her with nearly visible question marks hanging over their heads Ino realized that maybe, maybe they hadn't figured out that the leaf nin and the Kazekage had hooked up. Gaara hadn't told her on the roof and neither during dinner, but she had seen them kissing on the floor in some room (didn't remember which one) during the party.

"Ah, nothing, nothing. I just mean the ANBU acceptation." she laughed a loud, nervous laugh and shook her head violently.

Neji stared at her. "Are you sure about that?" You could almost see the branch Hyuuga's patience snap and he was clearly not foiled by her lame cover up.

"I'm sure, I'm really, really sure. Now, I've got to go somewhere, like, right now, so… yeah." with that, she ended the interrogation and ran for it.

* * *

Kankurou stared at Temari's raised hand in shock.

He had never seen his sister crying.

Ever.

And they had known each other since birth and grown up together.

He had never seen her cry. But now there was clear evidence of tears having rolled down her cheeks. Her eyes were red and puffy, with cheeks to match. Her breathing was a bit erratic and sometimes she hiccupped. All those were clear indication she had been crying.

But Temari didn't cry. She just didn't.

"Temari-san –" Shizune began, but the fan wielding kunoichi shushed her with another wink of her hand.

Kankurou wanted to yell at her to cut it out, but was more than terrified to in some way hurt her right now.

Sakura walked over to Temari, grabbed her hand and enveloped it with her own and rubbed it.

Shikamaru's body stilled, apparently out of fluids to spill. (2)

Temari relaxed and Sakura gently lifted her out of the bed. "Go to room 40B, Tsunade-sama is waiting for you there. It's just round the corner and down the corridor to the left." she said in a motherly tone and pushed her out the door..

She touched Shikamaru's shoulder and he stood up and followed his fiancée out of the room.

Kankurou jumped at Sakura the second the engaged couple exited the room.

"The results?" he said urgently.

Sakura smiled gently and closed the door.

"The baby is fine."

* * *

(1) You surely must have done this once. I have a thousand times and counting. I'm a little vision impaired. Heehee… XD

(2) I just know you're thinking about something dirty right now, you little perverts. ;P

**A/N**: I realize this isn't quite what you expect from a GaaLee fic, but I promise there will be more fluffy GaaLee action in the next chapter. ;P I hope you could figure that out, since they're in Suna without any possible interruptions. XD I'm sick. Still. I hate it. And you know what would make me feel better? Review and tell me what you thought of the chapter? Was there too much ShikaTema centering or was it okay? I'm still not satisfied with Lee's personality! Tell me what to do with him because otherwise I'll turn this into an angsty fic and kill him off so I don't have to deal with him anymore. TO SAVE LEE, REVIEW! Ha-ha. Yes, I'm a dork. Now, off! Review! (Oh, I forgot, have I said review?) XD


	6. Taijustu is hate

**A/N**: I'm so stressed right now, I'm so sorry it's late. I have tests in every subject I take besides P.E and art. I have tried to study but my memory isn't top notch, so I forget it every time I go to bed! I tried staying up all night to see if I could withhold the information. NO. Didn't work and I was tired all day. Perfect. The only good thing was that the pictures for the school catalogues were a week ago, and I was sick during it! Yay! Now, onwards!

**Disclaimer**:Hm, let me think. Take credit, live happily for two weeks, go to jail and die in jail. Do not take credit; continue living ordinary life and die of old age? It's like Sophie's choice! Unfortunately, I'll have to go with the second, because you can't shop when in prison. Shopping is my air and blood and everything. (Hidden meaning, to quote Kakuzu; Give me your money) XD

**Pairings**: GaaLee, minor ShikaTema, KibaHina, NaruSasu, and some one-sided KanKiba & InoKan.

**Warnings**: There will be a slightly silly plot. I guess the cussing must be M-rated, unfortunately. Shounen ai/yaoi. You have been warned.

**Notice**: Gaara's inner thought are in _italic_, and music playing in the background will be in **bold**. Crossing of both are just to put _**emphasis**_on words in favor of using CAPITAL letters (capital letters will be used somewhat though), are we clear on that?

**Notice II**: Okay, so this isn't a twoshot anymore, it's a multichap. fic. So review and tell me to write more, or flame me and say I sincerely suck.

**Notice ****III**: Once again, BETA, anyone? puppy eyes

* * *

"The Konoha exchange is here, Kazekage-sama" Satoshi said in a dreamy tone from his chair by his desk in the room next to his own, connecting the corridor to his office. "He just checked in according to the stationed ANBU's guarding the southern gate."

"Hn." Gaara answered, making it clear he heard it, and didn't really care much about it either.

"Would you like me to read his stats for you?" he continued in a tone that suggested he was floating on a pink, fluffy cotton candy cloud. No. Mental image. Go away. Shoo. Fuck.

"No." The Kazekage said indifferently and continued to stare angrily at the paper residing on his desk. He needed a genjutsu teacher and a personal taijutsu instructor. After his recent battle (Kumogakure had picked the wrong opponent, and that Raikage had been a little to cocky for her own good, the genjutsu hadn't been that strong nor terrifying.) he discovered he could not break out of genjutsus nor defend himself against extra strong direct physical contact without his sand. This was such a bother to find someone he could actually work with. The genjutsu master population rate was extremely low in Sunagakure and taijutsu masters there were plenty of.

There were just these little snags.

One, many were too afraid to be his coach.

Two, the ones who actually dared to were too preppy and disgustingly happy. When they told Gaara to 'Give them five more', he usually tried to squeeze their eyeballs out with his precious sand. It could be annoying, and they should really consider that he had such a short temper. It wasn't his fault if they decided to be brain damaged morons and actually have the gall to call him numerous insults to work up his adrenaline.

They were all in rehab now.

Too bad.

Gaara almost felt bad for them.

"Twenty-one, a male jounin. He's one hundred and seventy-nine centimeters, with an outstanding performance during all ranked missions, specializes in basically expertise taijutsu."

"I said no, Satoshi." Gaara grumbled.

_Are we stupid? Gaara –_

"There's even a picture of him here!" the blue haired male excitedly waved a photography in his direction with the blank side at the redhead. He pushed his glasses further up his nose and studied the photo. "He's quite odd-looking, if I may say so. Cute, but odd-looking."

_Odd-looking. We wonder who that could be, Kazekage-sama. You're so stupid. _

A hand of sand flew out and ripped the flimsy piece of paper out of his secretary's hand and transported it to a pale, flesh one. Gaara stared at it. Yeah, that was Lee, alright. It was blurry and unprofessionally done. The photo. It seemed it had been taken in a hurry while the older male had kept running away. Lee was staring straight into the camera, a huge grin painting his face. A hand, probably about to give the camera man a thumb up, was blocking a third of his tan face features.

Gaara stared at the photo, and then at the document in his other hand. Eyes darted between the two.

_Well. Find a taijutsu instructor, check._

"Satoshi…" he said calmly.

"Yes, Kazekage-sama?"

"Please inform the counsel and any unexpected visitors that I shall be engaged in training the entire day and that I am not to be disturbed unless absolutely necessary." he informed in a mutual voice and started to walk down the corridor to the eastern gate, were Lee probably were right now as the information he needed were to be received there.

"But wait. What is absolutely nessecary?" Satoshi inquired innocently, looking much like a child who is told they will be king of the household the entire evening until the parents are coming home.

Gaara paused briefly. "I'll let you be the judge of that."

He walked away and out of the building and was immediately met with a strong gush of wind mingled with sand. It was rather windy outside, then. Gaara quickly made his way through the entire village with his head held high, drawing attention to himself. Usually he'd speed through the village, trying to go by unnoticed. But now he felt oddly brave for some unexplainable reason.

Arriving to the east gate, he saw Lee talking to one of the two ANBU guards, showing his exchange document. The dirty blond guard nodded and waved, indicating he could continue. Lee smiled at them and was about to leave, when the brunette guard smacked the blond over the head and shot an arm out to stop Lee. The man rubbed his injured head and scowled at the woman.

Gaara was close enough to hear the conversation.

" … And there is a number of things for you to do here, and you are free to choose whatever you –"

"He will be working with me." Gaara interrupted, ripping the document the brunette kunoichi's hand with a clump of sand. She looked up, surprised, and noticed who had spoken to her. She was visibly unnerved about his presence, and tried hard not to show it. The blond guard, however, was totally unfazed about him. It seemed some people weren't afraid of him anymore. Granted, he was maybe five years older than Gaara, but that would have little importance if Gaara decided he should die.

He raised his hand in a greeting and said happily: "Ohayo, Kazekage-sama." and eyed him up and down.

Gaara's painted eye twitched. Was that man checking him out? No. No one would actually be that stupid to...

The blonde winked at him.

Hell no. That was just disgusting. _Go away, damn you!_

"Gaara-sama." Lee said, sounding surprised. "Did you know I was going to arrive here or was it merely a coincidence?"

_Yes, coincidence. He can't actually believe that himself, can he, Gaara-sama?_

"It was not a coincidence, Lee-kun, and you do not believe that yourself." The redhead answered; face serious and dead set, staring daggers into the blonde man who was still grinning cheekily at him. The nerve. Gaara figured who he reminded of, a fellow demon carrier. "You are to serve as my taijutsu supervisor the time you are staying here."

Lee blinked in surprise again at him. "What did you say?"

Gaara grabbed his wrist and started dragging him away from there, and off to the training grounds. Why waste time?

"Wait, Gaara-sama! What are you saying about tai –"

Gaara stopped and turned to face the panting shinobi. Oh well, Lee had probably ran a hundred percent without stopping all the way from Konoha just because his crazy-ass teacher had told him to was youthful. Maybe he should be a little less demanding, he was probably exhausted. It was fair.

"I need a taijutsu instructor and –"

"Gaara-sama, why would you need an instructor? You are the Kazekage after all and –"

Gaara glared pointedly at him and the fellow ninja fell silent.

"I taught myself only ninjutsu when I was younger seeing as I believed nothing could get past my sand defense and therefore skipped the entire taijutsu chapter. Thus, my training is to be supervised as I do not have the normal routines. Is that clear?"

Gaara once again took hold of his arm and continued to walk.

"Well, hello to you to." Lee said, rubbing the back of his head and smiling uneasily. "As flattering as that would be, I need to unloa–"

"Your packing will be taken care of." he answered curtly as they passed the Kazekage building.

"But –" Lee started.

Gaara made a bowl of sand, ripped the older mans backpack off of his back and tossed it into the sand container. A motion with his fingers and the sand flew up to a window of the round building and tipped the backpack into his office window (or so he hoped).

"There. Now if you would please cooperate and do as I say, this will go so much smoother." he said and they walked rapidly in silence till they reached the training grounds.

"Gaara." Lee said firmly and reclaimed his arm. "Is there something the matter? You are unusually tense and testy, it is unsettling."

Gaara paused to think. Maybe he was a little uptight right now. The whole Temari-baby-thing had really scared him and the results weren't to arrive until tomorrow at noon if he had calculated correctly. Then because he had to leave Konoha and more was added because of Kankurou's obvious misery and to top it all off, that rude man flirting with him (And because he had been attractive. That bothered Gaara. Attractive people should not flirt with him like that. it was unnerving). The cup wasn't half full; it was half empty right now.

"Maybe I am behaving a little unpleasant right now. I apologize." he stated and turned to look at Lee.

He was still wearing that jumpsuit, and the green jacket to emphasis his broad chest. The hitai-ate was tied neatly around his forehead and he wore some kind of black, leathery, fingerless gloves. He looked a little… well, like he had just been woken up.

It was kinda cute.

"That is fine." Lee stepped forward and landed a hand on his cheek, gently caressing his pale skin. "Though it could be better for yourself if you tried to lighten up a little."

"What do you mean by that?" he answered icily, people were not to tell him how to be.

"Well, if looks could kill, that blonde guard would be six feet under by now, Gaara-sama."

_Well, that is true. But he was flirting with us! That's not cool.__ And Lee noticed it? Of course he did, we stared to hard at him it's not hard to believe his bodily temperature would sink beneath subzero._

"Is there a point?" Gaara asked, growing more and more annoyed with the way that hand was stroking his cheek. The gloves were in the way, it wasn't skin to skin contact and it disturbed him. The gloves had to go. Tough luck.

Gaara grabbed his hands and brought them down in front him them. Lee waited in curiosity. With one firm rip the left glove was torn off.

"Hey, what are you –"

"Hush."

Another rip, and the second glove came off and he carelessly threw them to the side, not bothering the least to explain his actions to Lee. After having the Leaf nin staring at him for a minute, he just walked over to the shuriken practice part of the training grounds and jumped swiftly to sit on top of a large log with several shuriken wounds. Lee followed, a little uncertain it seemed.

"Gaara-sama?" he asked, and he made it sound like he was questioning himself why he was asking this question.

"Yes?"

"So, were the problems with my gloves strictly political or were the reasons you had to get rid of them personal?"

Gaara decided to play along, even though he didn't really play, he just became… less serious. "The reasons are stamped confidential."

"Ah, I see." Abandoning the playing around, seeing as Gaara couldn't really do that kind of thing and probably preferred not to as he was a very serious and straightforward person, he decided to ask about a little matter that he had not understood. "But what did you say about me being your taijutsu instructor?"

Gaara realized he hadn't said hello yet.

He jumped down and strode up to the taller boy and softly planted a feather light kiss on the slightly chapped lips.

"Does this mean you want to change the subject or was I not perceptive enough to realize we already had?"

"No, I shall explain your given duty to you." Gaara was tempted to say 'later' but figured it would be a little improper to imply they should have sex already. Maybe it was more proper to actually do something first. Or at least spend more than five minutes with each other.

What activity could be done small effort and be done with it after very short amount of time?

Gaara's brain stopped working. How was he supposed to think about different things when Lee was here in Suna and would be, under his command, too, for an undecided amount of time which would undoubtedly most of the time lead to sex? It was impossible.

"Gaara-sama?"

"It's _**Gaara**_."

"Oh. Yes, of course it is." Lee chuckled and rubbed the back of his head.

* * *

"Then why the hell was everyone so… _**scary?! **_You were practically making me so depressed I wanted to start digging my own grave!"

Sakura smiled gently. Was she never angry? She couldn't be this pleasant all the time; otherwise Gaara would not feel repulsed by her. He knew his brother had almost a fake-radar that detected fake smiles and laughs. Kankurou knew though it was always the silent ones. He hated the silent ones. They were liars and thieves and traitors and thieves and…

"Of course the aftershock affected their behavior, don't take it personally. They're also about to become parents. It's a big step."

Kankurou made his hand form a mouth and made it seem like it was blabbering, mocking her. "Kids aren't that hard to deal with."

"Oh yes they are. Have you ever been alone with a small child for more than twenty four hours? They'd give a jounin a good run for the money."

"Naah, it's not that hard. People are just not… potent enough."

"That's one way to put it." She walked over and turned her back to him. "Could you untie it?" She motioned to the knot at the lower part of her back. He did so, and the half apron-like thing hung in his hand. He had never seen its purpose seeing as if it was to protect her usual clothing that would require it covered it all, too. But it didn't. It was totally unnecessary. It served no purpose whatsoever.

"You've seriously taken care of one child more than a day?"

Kankurou raised his open hand and folded down his thumb and pinky finger, grinning widely.

"Three kids. One week. Beat that."

She stared in amazement. "Jesus Christ. I'd go insane. How young were they?"

"Three, seven and twelve."

"Ah, good for you. Babies are the ones requiring the most attention. They're the hardest."

"No, premature teens are. She would not stop talking about how her boyfriend was going to come and pick her up when her mother had practically forced me to sign a contract saying she was not to leave the building after eight o'clock. Bloody brat."

"Ah, that does seem irritating." They walked out of the room and out to the street. "Can I ask why you're here? I mean, it's been a week, but that means you must have gotten to Suna, and then went back immediately. Why would you…?"

"Because. You just… You're an only child, right?"

"Yeah. I suppose you care a lot for your sister."

Kankurou smirked. "If she wasn't so upset now I'd go tease her. I've never seen her crying before, actually."

"I didn't think she had either. She seems tough."

"More than you know. She's brutal."

Sakura made a clawing motion in the air and meowed, grinning.

"Hey! Billboard-brow!"

"What do you want, Ino-pig?" she yelled back on instinct at the blonde who came bouncing up behind them.

"Nothing, really. Not that'd I'd tell you anyhow." She stuck her tongue out playfully at her and turned to Kankurou. "Temari…?"

Kankurou nodded in affirmative.

"Thank God!" Ino said in relief, and yelled for Tenten to stop hiding and to come here. Kankurou supposed that was a smart move as he would try to kill the weaponries-expert as soon as he had set his eyes on her if the baby was...

The brunette jumped down from a roof and landed gracefully next to the blonde. "Hinata!" she yelled, and ran to drag a stuttering girl from the corner of a building. Along with her were Shino and Kiba. "The baby's fine!"

Kiba bounced forward and wrapped his arm around Kankurou's shoulders. "Fuck, man! That's a fucking relief!"

Then, after a mere second of bodily contact, Kiba let go of him and strode over to Hinata and slung the very same arm around her shoulders, hugging her close to him. She, of course, blushed. What else? The touch was visibly different from how he had touched Kankurou. He was more… tender and careful with her, as if he didn't want to accidentally hurt her in some way. As if… As if…

As if she was precious to him.

Kankurou wanted to say something, _**anything**_, but found it dead lock impossible. Damn it. If he had been anywhere else, he would… cry. No, he would not cry, he wouldn't. That was just… No. He wouldn't cry. He wasn't that kind of person. Crying was for weaklings and Kankurou was no weakling. He would not cry.

But he would.

Anything else would be lies.

"So, did the future mom say anything?" Ino inquired, smiling.

"She wanted to be alone." He smirked, just for show. He didn't have the strength to not be fake right now. "Shikamaru cried. Bawled might be more accurate, actually."

"Figures, he's such a crybaby." Ino snickered, and looked at him though the corner of her eye.

Yeah, a crybaby…

He blinked, eyelids burning with tears wanting to take form.

God, he was really a crybaby. Shikamaru, that is.

* * *

"We need him out on open grounds." 

"That will not be a problem."

"I believed you would say that."

Silence.

"We want him alone."

"That is not a problem either."

"You know you have wronged."

"I don't understand."

The taller man turned slightly towards him, and a frightening boost of power was dislocated from his joints and rolled in waves towards him. The chakra prickled his skin.

"You have more to say?" the shorter male inquired calmly.

"No more playing around. These are risky games."

"I have not been –"

"You are being too loose for your mere amusement. You are giving him too much space. He will not do things according to our orders if you continue to let him make his own decisions like this. He will endanger everything we have worked for. Do you understand?"

"Yes."

"That is fine. You are to restrain him and force him into doing exactly as he is told, from now on. I will make you face the consequences if he does not comply with given orders. Do you comprehend?"

"Yes."

"You are to leave."

With that, the auburn haired man was clothed in a cloud of smoke, and disappeared. The now lonely man didn't even have the motivation to sigh.

The second man reappeared next to a beautiful woman, who did not move a muscle because of his appearance. She merely continued to stare into the raining sky. The clouds were dark and ominous, leaving to shred of light to fall to the ground. He moved to stand next to her, and followed her example, staring lovingly at the sky.

His wild, red hair glittered with the water droplets, quickly gathering it into clumps, neutering his naturally upright hair.

There was no challenge to this.

Of course he had no choice but to obey.

But even so… His amusement and interest in all of this was now gone.

He heaved a sigh.

So many duties, nothing to do, no time, all the time in the world.

That single man's wavering emotions back and forth between love and nothing had been his only entertainment. And now his privilege to watch the show unravel was taken away from him. He had known not to trust his entertainment ever since he sought them up.

And he didn't either.

Now he only had the rain and a nearly impossible twist of fate.

But mostly the rain.

* * *

"Come on, Gaara-sama! A little more!"

Gaara was doing push ups on the trainings grounds. Usually that is not such a hard task, but this workout was being executed 'Lee-style', which was frighteningly similar to something horrid Gaara had once witnessed that had been labeled; 'Gai's workout'. Under the modified version of Lee's style training, Gaara had to do a large number of pushups. With the said leaf nin sitting on his back.

Even now that seems like an easy task. How much can one man weight? But the more Gaara pushed, the more weight his occupant seemed to gain. And he had pushed past the numbers with three digits now and was practically sweating blood. Also, he had no decided number to work to. No, he was to do this until he blacked out, too exhausted to move, which was soon. The absolute bottom of this deal was that Gaara had asked this disaster to do this to him. It wasn't some crazy prep coach (well, almost not) he could crush, it was Lee and he didn't want to hurt Lee. Again.

The sand residing on the ground began flailing around them in the air, signaling how be began to lose grasp of consciousness. They had been going at it for hours. He was deathly exhausted. How else was Gaara to feel?

"That is good for now, Gaara-sama. Very good!" Lee said, smiling an astronomically large smile, gave him a thumbs up he could only snatch from the corner of his eye and swiftly jumped off his back.

"You're fired." Gaara stated before falling flat on the ground into the dust. The sand sneaked its way to his arms and caressed them gently, as if knowing how they ached and throbbed.

"We must be even more youthful next time, because we are going to –" Lee began, but stopped when the sand, not according to Gaara's inner mind theater of course, formed a fist larger than his whole body, vibrating violently and was is obvious search of something to pound black and blue.

"We can discuss that tomorrow. Let us get you home." he said and walked over to his limp form. Kneeling, he turned Gaara around so he wasn't staring into the ground anymore. "You are too tired to walk?"

Gaara didn't even want to answer, believing that his whole not-moving scene would wordlessly explain it to his lover.

"Well, fine then."

Before the Kazekage could comprehend with what was happening, Lee had slung his lithe form across his own back and Gaara hooked his arms around the tan neck and his legs around his hips on instinct. Lee took hold of his legs to stabilize them and started walking. The steps were slow and the soft thumps were soothing.

"Gaara-sama –"

"Gaara."

"Gaara. Yes. Gaara, it is the Kazekage building that is your home, am I right? The large room connected to the office?"

"Yes."

Gaara nuzzled his head into the older shinobi's neck and let his fingers walk across a patch of naked skin on said neck, staring at the way they moved. Lee was so beautiful. But it hurt in every joint of his body to move five of his fingers in even such small movements. But pain was irrelevant. He wanted to touch Lee. He just wanted to be close to Lee and touch him.

The Konoha beast started climbing the stairs and was met with no one on their way to the office. It had long ago started to get dark and it was only because of the lights in the corridors they were able to see anything. If you looked out the window, all you could see were spots of light where there was a few random houses with their lights still on.

Lee walked with an air of casual comfort.

He knew where the office was then.

When they got there, Lee let go of his legs and waited for Gaara to slide off. He didn't. Lee shook his body a little. Nothing now either. If anything, the extremely weak grip had tightened a bit.

"Gaara, are you not eager to just lie down and relax? To do so, you must let go off me."

Affected, in a negative way, – didn't Lee want his close to him? – Gaara let go and fell without protest to the floor backwards, back smacking into the ground. He was hurting everywhere. How was he supposed to protect himself from the impact if he didn't have enough strength to stand on his own legs? Not possible. If your name wasn't Rock Lee or Uzumaki Naruto. But Gaara was Gaara, the Kazekage. Not some insane, driven kid, mostly directing that towards Naruto.

"Gaara-sama! Are you okay? I did not realize you were so tired…" Lee cried out, sounding apologetic and surprised.

"No." he muttered angrily, staring in a menacing way at the ceiling.

"I shall assist you."

Lee hoisted him up and carried him towards the large bathroom, carrying him like a tiny baby. He leaned the redhead against the wall, who immediately slid down to the floor.

"Will you manage on your own?" he asked sincerely.

Gaara glared at him.

How was he supposed to?

He could not move, even less get up, get the hot water running to fill the tub with it, undress himself and step into the bath. No, he could not manage on his own.

_Why don't we let Lee undress us?_

Now that was an excellent idea.

"I guess you are unable to. I shall assist you!" Lee said, sounding happy and naïve, similar with a kid who has been allowed to help with grandma with baking the cookies, which is code for eating the cookie dough.

Lee started preparing the bath, and Gaara just observed him. Damn, he was so sexy. Non-stop taijutsu since academy level had done wonders with that body. After five minutes, there was nothing left but to wait for the water to fill the bathtub and to… get rid of the clothes. Yes, this was a very good idea.

Lee crouched in front of his slumping form and started taking the long Kazekage robe off his shoulders, sliding the down his arms. His fingertips occasionally brushed against his sensitive skin. The older man wasn't trying to turn him on. But it sure as hell did. Not so much that is showed though. He was too tired for that.

He made the process quite quick with most of the clothing, except for the fishnet shirt underneath the t-shirt with he managed to tangle his fingers up with and not get them loose for five minutes. That is quite a feat for an expertise jounin.

Now there were only the boxers left.

Lee blushed slightly and looked away, hooking his thumbs in them.

Gaara weighted his only option. He was too tired to do anything, so there wasn't anything he could do but let Lee leave the room instead of doing this to him. He, with great effort, put his hands on top of the larger, calloused ones and mumbled a weak 'I can do it myself'.

Lee let out a breath and let go, moving to stand up. When he was at the door, he felt Gaara's glare of death burn on his back.

"We are not to train tomorrow. Understood?"

Lee turned and looked at the younger male. "Why not, Gaara-sama?"

"Because then we'll make this training a routine."

"That is the point. Why is that bad?" Lee inquired innocently.

"Because then we'll never have sex." Gaara said bluntly and spread the blush onto Lee's cheeks. The older male chuckled nervously and scratched his head. Slowly, very slowly, he backed out of the room before he did something he might regret.

Gaara stared at the tub. Suddenly it seemed very unattractive to get into that bath.

He wanted to not hurt and have sex.

Taijutsu was just to be not used in his battle style then, since it brought unwanted downsides.

"Are there any matches out here?" Lee called out to him from his bedroom.

Matches… Maybe the fifth drawer in the gigantic closet. Or in some drawer in his desk in his office. Or maybe there were no matches.

"I don't know. Look through the drawers."

"Which drawers?"

"All drawers."

Gaara seeped up the voice. Lee was going to have to talk to him the entire night to make up for lost physical contact. He guessed that'd be fine, too.

Lee was…

Well… He was…

He was precious to Gaara.

He was glad he had a… person like him… to be one he thought of as precious… in a different way… since he already had his brother and his sister… and his friends.

He slipped out of his boxers with great effort and into the bathtub, loving the way the hot warned heated his skin. He wasn't alone. He had so many precious people. Yashamaru's face flashed before him.

Gaara wasn't alone.

He was surrounded.

* * *

"Temari, it's okay now. It's okay." Sakura hushed, hugging the kunoichi's head closer to her chest. She wouldn't stop sobbing. Shikamaru had long ago passed out on the couch from exhaustion, but Temari was still up.

Sakura had walked them home after Tsunade's final fix up that assured them that no damage would come to their unborn child.

Shikamaru had been crying from dawn till dusk, so he blacked out the minute he landed on the couch. Temari's barriers seemed to burst when she saw her fiancées sleeping form. All the worried feelings she had forced to be dormant woke up and slashed deep gashes at her mind. Sakura had listened for half an hour to Temari sobbing quietly, randomly whispering things as how she would be a horrible mother and how much the loved her child.

"It's okay, sshh…" she mumbled, stroking her blonde hair "Don't be sad…"

"'M not sad…" was murmured into her chest.

Sakura gave up a little laugh.

"Of course you're not."

"'M happy."

"Yeah. That's great."

"Don't treat me like a sissy. 'll pound you to the ground." she muttered and shifted slightly.

"I'm not. I'm just trying to be nice."

"Stop it. It gets me nervous again."

"Okay then."

They sat there a while in silence.

"When are you going to have the wedding?"

"A little more than two weeks. We've decided to have it here in Konoha. Gaara and Kankurou will just have to come here instead of the other way around." she said quietly. Sakura sighed. She seemed to fragile and vulnerable right not, it unnerved her.

"Kankurou is already here, remember?"

"Right."

Silence.

"'Ve already picked out my dress. I don't know how big'll be in two weeks, and I don't want to look fat, so maybe we'll change the date to a week or something. I don't know. I want to separate my wedding and my pregnancy. They're two different things, you know?"

The medical nin nodded.

Sakura sat there, making small talk until the older kunoichi fell asleep. Scooting away, she put her sleeping form in her bed and sneaked out of the house.

The moonlight shone on her footsteps as she walked home to her shared apartment.

* * *

**A/N**: Well… I don't know, seriously. I've planned the chapter after the next and the one after that, but the next chapter is still blank and open for your suggestions. Review and make me happy now! And if you figured out who those unknown people were, good for you. ;P You'll know there's a plot twist coming up!


	7. Deciding colors

**A/N**: _Go home, get stoned, I min mobil, music is my air. _This chapter will be messy and without any reason whatsoever. Deal with it. Or else I shall be depressed. You don't want that, do you? A sickness, then another, and then a session of total depression? It could kill me and I would never be able to finish this, unless I do it from the other spiritual plane (That's a lie, I wouldn't. I'd go haunt my old classmates without question).

**Disclaimer**: I'm too sleepy to make a witty comment about how I don't own it. Go figure it out yourself while I go drown myself in coffee.

**Pairings**: GaaLee, minor ShikaTema, KibaHina, NaruSasu, and some one-sided KanKiba & InoKan.

**Warnings**: Strong language. Shounen ai/yaoi. Don't like, don't read. Extreme silliness in this chapter.

**Notice**: Gaara's inner thought are in _italic_, and to put emphasison words I'll use either _italic_ or **bold**, or a crossing or _**both**_ in favor of using CAPITAL letters (capital letters will be used somewhat though), are we clear on that?

**Notice II**: And, I noticed I haven't told you yet; I don't write lemons, and there will be none in this story, as it's totally raping guidelines and I'm neurotically nervous about these things, don't wanna get banned. So, yeah. There you have it. And I probably dropped half of my readers now, but I'm too tired to go get you some form of bribe.

* * *

"Tell me why. I do not understand."

"Because it bothers me."

"But why does it bother you?"

"Because it does."

"But _**why **_does it bother you? There has to be a reason, it cannot be simply just because."

"Yes it can."

"You do not seem in the mood to talk. Why are we here again if not to converse with each other?"

"Because I feel like it. Now be quiet."

"But you cannot take me here and then not talk. That is not fair."

"Yes I can. I am the Kazekage and this is Suna." Pause. "I rule here. You are to do what I say."

"Kinky."

"That's unusually daring, Lee."

"One must live up to his youth's fullest extent, Gaara-sama."

The two lovers were lying next to each other on their backs on the round roof of the Kazekage building, fingers lightly entwined with the other. The easy breeze stroked their bare arms and the full moon's weak light flickered across their faces. Suna at night was more pleasant than during the day, because your skin didn't go pink when stepping outside nighttime. Gaara's large gourd lay forgotten in the office. Roofs are always good if you are insomnia. They can give you some sense of serenity during the dark hours of the day.

Lee had been in Suna for almost a week. Gaara didn't really want to describe things with that term, but having Lee here had been really fun. They had been training, talking, other things… and even played that game once. Twister was the name. Gaara never would've it Lee hadn't said it would help him get more flexible (than he was right now).

Of course, the game itself hadn't lasted very long, eventually turning into other things.

But that was of little importance since it was a new memory of something.

Not many people knew this about Gaara. One person from Suna and three from Konoha. No more.

Gaara collected memories.

How can you collect memories?

Easy. You experience things you wish to keep with you forever. Gaara tried to keep collecting, but the Kazekage office was now a large part of his mind, and it was constant. Some things were worth saving, like admitting a new pack of academy scholars to become genin, or handing out their first missions among others.

"Youth is on the other hand a term you should be careful to use. You are getting old."

"Very funny, Gaara-sama."

_How many times this week have we told him to drop the 'sam__a'? Does the information go into one ear and out the other? Soon we'll have to smack it into him. That won't be pretty, will it, Gaara-sama?_

"But the older one is usually the one superior. Would you agree to this?"

"Silly you. That has no truth to it whatsoever."

"If that is what you wish, Gaara-sama."

"Lee." Gaara sighed irritably. "If you don't drop the 'sama' I will have to hurt you."

"You would not hurt me, Gaara-sama. I know you."

Stupid overconfident jerk. He was too smart and he knew Gaara too well. In any other case, the initial thought would be 'He knows too much. He must disappear." However, he didn't want Lee to disappear, so he had to come up with another idea. Maybe just stuff his mouth with sand. He certainly deserved it because of the way he had treated him this week. Out of seven days, the training had been kept going thirteen hours a day. That's seventy-eight hours of training. One single day had he been allowed to slack off and relax. Goddamned tyrant.

"See, now you are thinking about how much I annoy you right now."

"Lies." Gaara countered, and was not even a little displeased that Lee knew exactly what was going on inside it head. Rather, it was sweet that he cared enough to keep tabs on his behavior.

"No, you are."

"Okay, I am." he said, but the tone still indicated that Lee was underneath him and Gaara's opinion was the correct one (1). He swiped his thumb across the calloused hand he was holding as an unconscious act of apologizing.

Lee seemed to have gotten enough of star gazing (you could see the stars more clearly in Suna that on any other place in the world) and jumped up, hair blowing.

"Are you wishing to retire for the day?" Gaara said from below who had yet to move.

"Let us do something!" Lee said, and his eyes twinkled with something… mischievous.

"That depends, what do you have in mind?"

"The counsel gave you a lot of trouble, right? They knew Matsuri was safe and they let you travel all this way instead of sending you a messenger, right?"

"Yes."

"Let us play a practical joke on them!"

The only thing Gaara registered in that sentence was 'practical joke'. Couldn't Lee contract that either, into 'prank'? Then Gaara soaked up what his lover had said. Was he crazy?

"No."

"Come on, Gaara-sama! Please! It will be so… it will be so… so… so…" Lee seemed to look for a word.

"Youthful?" Gaara supplied sourly.

"Yes, youthful!"

"No, it would be stupid."

_Although stupid and Lee's view on youthful are pretty much the same this when it all comes do__wn to it; idiocy. We think it's adoring and annoying to watch, but it is pain to participate. Let's not do that, Gaara-sama. Run. Far away._

"But, Gaara-sama…! We have not done anything together besides training since I got here, and this would be something we could do together. _Please_!"

_We can come up with__ a few other activities to do, Lee-kun, if you want something to do. Oh, I have an idea. Why don't we have –_

Gaara blinked at him.

"Are you suggesting this is a date?"

Lee blinked. Then smiled like the cat that ate the canary.

"Yes, a date."

"Then perhaps this will be negotiable. My first offer is no practical jokes and I will not back further."

"This will go on forever if we are to do it this way. Rock, paper, scissors?"

"Hn." Gaara mumbled, and rose from the floor to sit cross-legged in front of the crouching ninja.

"One, two, three!" Lee called and they chose a sign.

One rock and one paper.

"Luck is part of being a shinobi. Now, let us go!" Lee said and laughed in pure ecstasy, ripping Gaara from the roof and the redhead sighed. He was being tossed around like a doll and no one obeyed his orders anymore. Maybe he had gotten too soft over the years.

The Konoha shinobi jumped down the building, grabbed a window ledge and swung the two of them inside.

It was dark, and all the workers had gone home, even the guards. The system in Suna was a bit different than other countries. Other people had at least one or two guards by the Kazekage's office to ensure no one assassinated their leader when sleeping. Gaara, on the other hand, never slept, so he didn't need guards for the nightly hours.

"What shall we do, what shall we do?"

"Leave?" Gaara suggested.

"That would be silly, we are already here."

"But this is even sillier."

"No, this is funny. You need to separate the two. Come here." Lee whispered, grabbed his hand and dragged him off.

The smoothly maneuvered their way to the counsel room. When inside, Gaara remembered the statues of the former Kazekages were there. A statue of his father was in there, and would be staring at him. He cast a glance their way, and immediately looked away. They creeped him out big time.

He became even more nervous about this whole ordeal than he had before.

"Lee –"

"How do you feel about nailing them to their chairs when they sit down?"

"_No_."

"Smoke slash itching bombs?"

"_No!_"

"Some kind of pop-up?"

"_For God's sake, Lee!_"

Gaara was starting to get really nervous. Being nervous made him act like a strict teacher who the students had no respect for whatsoever.

"That's a no. You come with a better suggestion then."

"Get up, and walk away! What if someone comes down here –?"

"Loosen up a little! No one will come here. It is empty!"

"But what if –"

Lee leaned over and pressed his lips softly against his own, then quickly retracted. "Seriously. Calm down. Nothing is going to happen." He gave the smaller hand a light squeeze and his face split into an almost disturbing grin, but it could also be classed as an 'I'm-plotting-an-evil-scheme-face', and it scared Gaara. "And I have decided to go with the nailing idea. Naruto recommended it to me."

Gaara relaxed a little. Only a little.

"And since that requires ninjutsu, you will do it."

Gaara tensed up again. His shoulders ached. Damn it, Lee had to stop making him nervous. He'd become a bloody boulder if this continued. Lee was too carefree and… Hey. Playing pranks on people isn't very nice, and Lee was always insanely polite to everyone. Why would he do something like this?

"Lee, why are you doing this?"

He halted. "Whatever do you mean?"

"This isn't like you. You wouldn't do this to another human being."

Something appeared in Lee's eyes. Gaara didn't have to think a second about it to know that look. It was… A heart's desire to serve someone precious to him, as Naruto had quoted to him once when trying to explain love. Gaara could not understand how Naruto of all people would know something that intelligent. Lee wanted him to do this for himself.

"Why would you want to do this?"

Lee looked guilty.

"They… They are not very nice to you, Gaara-sama. If you were not the Kazekage, which, if I may say, they only agreed to let you become because of the mere fact that your father was a Kage too, they would openly disrespect youu. They do not treat you as they should. It bothers me."

Maybe that was true. They had never been very supportive or even content with the fact that he was the Kazekage.

Gaara stared at Lee. At first, it had seemed like he had thought it was a funny joke, but when confronted about it, the reasons ran deeper. It heated up inside Gaara because Lee cared so much about him, but he didn't want him to worry or something stupid like that.

"Let us retreat to our room."

Lee mumbled a 'yes' and Gaara felt bad. Now he was down. Great. Something to cheer him up with… A game?

"Want to play chess?" Gaara said, and cursed himself. Chess? That was not the best thing he could come up with. Even staring at plant waiting for it to grow would be more interesting. Chess was, in Gaara's opinion the most boring thing to exist. Even shougi and go was better than chess. No chess. Chess was bad.

"I think that is a great idea, Gaara-sama." Lee said and it was transparent he was very happy about the fact Gaara had tried to be extra friendly. It's the little things, right?

They walked to the office in comfortable silence.

When inside, Lee started looking for a board while the redhead took a seat (the most comfortable and royal-looking, a red, fluffy armchair) and raised his hand. Flicking his wrist, sand started to drag a large mahogany table to place it in front of him. Another flick of his wrist and another large armchair was put across his own, this one clothed in deep blue.

"Want something to drink?" Lee shouted from the tiny kitchen which he had to go through to get to the 'living room', aka a room with less paperwork spread in it.

"Hn." Gaara answered, because he still couldn't say 'yes' very well. He could say 'no' without a beat, and he was good with 'no'. 'Yes' was a total new word and a new hidden meaning. Difficult to handle.

"I am going to interpret that as a yes. Warm chocolate coming up."

After five minutes of Gaara sitting in his chair, studying his nails and listening to Lee make lots of metallic noises the older man emerged from the kitchen. He was balancing the chessboard on his head, and on top of the chessboard a little almost-black wooden box rested, where all the pieces were lying. In his right hand, a green and a white cup hung of off his fingers and the left hand held a glass jug filled to the rim with chocolate. Gaara could see the steam fly off the hot drink.

Lee wobbled over and put all things in his hands down on the table, and then the board and pieces. Gaara was presented with the white, sickeningly clean cup with was soon filled with the boiling liquid. Gaara was a little intrigued as why Lee would choose to give him a white cup. White was the essence of something pure and innocent, which Gaara was absolutely not. White could also stand for marriage and living a very long life, and it could stand for childhood. When neither of these really matched with him, it made him curious. It was a little thing, and most people wouldn't have given it a second thought, but Gaara did.

"Why would you choose white?"

Lee looked up, surprised. He put the jug down and sat down in his chair. "What do you mean?"

"You chose white." Gaara indicated towards the cup with a flick of his hand. "Why would you choose white?"

Lee was clearly not expecting the question as his brows furrowed and he looked a little confused.

"I saw one in the cabinet and I just took one. It was an unconscious choice. Why are you asking?"

"No reason." Gaara shifted, crossing his legs into a more intimidating pose if his legs had not been hidden beneath the table and interlaced his fingers. "But you have a green cup, and can't help but think that was not a random choice, which must mean you picked it out consciously because if I were to color-categorize you, I could easily have picked green. I don't see myself as white. Do you?"

"What color do you want to be then?"

Gaara should have been expecting the question, but was a little thrown of by it. He was more used and comfortable with questioning other people, not being asked questions as he was mostly never questioned. He shifted and uncrossed his legs, not feeling so secure anymore.

What color could he be?

Not white, Gaara was not pure. Not blue, because blue was a sign of serenity. Not green, because green was so much like spring, and spring didn't precisely describe Gaara. Yellow would be a very positive and talkative color, too childish. Orange was obscene and Naruto. Purple was too decorative and refined. Gray was too depressed and limp, plus it gave off a push-over aura and Gaara was, no matter which way you chose to look at it, no pushover. Pink… was not to be discussed. Everything, and everyone, for that matter that was pink could just go die. Red was too daring. Black was… rather accurate. Dark, indifferent and superior to all other colors.

But Gaara didn't want to be the color black.

"I don't know." he answered, aware of the fact he sounded very insecure about what he was saying, as if he was guessing.

"I think I can pinpoint your color, actually. But you will have to tell me what color you think I am first. If you did not before with your witty green-comment."

Gaara opened his mouth to protest, but stuck his tongue out at him in an impulsive moment. It was fair. Now, what color was Lee? He was, contrary to popular belief, not like his spandex, green. The redhead took a minute to think about what color Lee could be. It couldn't be a feminine color and a darker one like gray or brown wouldn't fit either.

"I don't know what color you are."

Lee smiled, almost smirked. "Then I will not tell you what your color is, Gaara-sama."

Damnit, he was turning this into a superiority contest. This was neither acceptable nor negotiable. Gaara got up and walked to the large bookcase, staring to look though the titles. He was not to be dominated (right now…).

"What are you doing?"

"I'm looking for color samples which are usually residing in a book which will tell you how to decorate your house, I am pretty sure there is one in this bookcase."

"Gaara-sama, I did not mean for it to turn into an obsessive search. You –"

Gaara pointedly ignored him and flipped through a thin book with the name 'How to make your friends jealous, every housewife's dream.' Gaara suspected that one belonged to either Satoshi or Kankurou. This was such shit, how could anyone buy this?

"If I can't find it here, we'll just raze the entire city in search for it." The Kazekage said, throwing the useless book/magazine over his shoulder

"Very funny." Lee stated, sounding sarcastic, which was very, very unusual, catching the magazine. "You let things get to you too easily. You are – "

Gaara sent a clump of sand into Lee's face, knocking him over, preventing him from telling him his color. Lee yelped when he bumped into the ground, muttering something which Gaara couldn't catch.

"What did you say?" The redhead asked, eyes darting back and forth in the books table of contents, smirking slightly when he hit gold. And entire section with colors.

"I said you do not always have to be so violent." Lee said, rubbing the back of his head sitting up on the floor.

It wasn't Gaara to say sorry, so he just slipped down on the floor next to the Konoha shinobi and draped a clothed arm across his own shoulders, opening the large book. Lee seemed surprised but content none the less, and watched when Gaara flickered to page 332, supposedly the start of the color guide. After seeing the page, Lee realized the colors were categorized alphabetically.

Without warning, Gaara knocked the arm off his shoulder which he himself had not a minute ago placed there. Just as he was about to ask why, feeling rejected, Gaara crawled in between his parted legs, leaning against his chest, his temple pressed against the older mans cheek.

"What color is Lee…" Gaara muttered absently, as if he had forgotten who he was leaning on. "What color is Lee…?"

He let his slender finger trace the different colors categorized in columns running down the page. He stopped at a color under F and Lee could just _feel _the younger boy smirking. Inwardly, of course, because usually Gaara didn't let unnecessary emotions surface to his face. He saw what color he had stopped at and couldn't help but smile. Gaara could be like a child sometimes.

"Fuchsia, perhaps?" he said in a dead serious voice, making it more humorous.

"No, I do not think it fits me. Not that pink is… unyouthful, but I do not feel a connection with pink." Lee said just as seriously, though he still sounded more like a kind teacher more than a serious Gaara.

"Well, if that's how you feel…" Gaara said, and continued looking. Rather quickly, he found another. "This one?" he said, still sounding serious, but in a different, sincere voice, pointing to a darker yellow color, labeled 'Tangerine yellow'. Before Lee was allowed to answer, Gaara dismissed it with a 'no, not it' and abandoned the letter T.

After ten minutes, they had passed a ton of different colors, some serious, such as 'teal' and 'viridian', and some less serious ones like 'eggplant' and 'international orange'. finally, Gaara's eyes got stuck to a name.

Cornflower Blue. A softer shade of blue that lead thoughts to the open sky. It was a beautiful name and shade, Gaara decided. Lee was Cornflower Blue.

"You are Cornflower Blue." Gaara announced, pointing at the color. Lee seemed pleased enough, and reached for the book.

"The color you are is in here, too." Lee said, and started searching under the B section. "The name was different than I thought, but they look the same. They name is not as graceful or flattering as _Cornflower Blue_, but it is a naturally beautiful color. There."

Gaara looked at the indicated spot.

Burnt Sienna. The color was brown and rather strongly red-tinted; indicating that color itself was an exact copy of a certain type of earth.

No, it wasn't as graceful or flattering as Cornflower Blue. Though it wasn't a surprise, Gaara probably was represented most truthfully with it, in a depressive way. He was nothing but dirt, if one were to be really depressive.

"Do you know why I think this is your color?"

Gaara crossed his arms and leaned back against Lee's chest. "Because it has a very slight resemblance with sand?" Some people would have thought the tone was rather… well; it would seem one was sulking. But, Gaara didn't sulk. He didn't even brood, as Uchihas and

certain Hyuugas did.

"No." Lee chuckled. "If you look at the other colors in the B column, you realize the others seem a little overdone, yes?

Gaara snuck a quick peak, barely noticeable. Among others, colors as 'Baby Blue,' 'Bright Green', 'Bondi Blue' and 'Bright Turquoises', there were few colors that did not seem created for the sole purpose of something.

"I can see what you're getting at."

"It seems your color is natural and sort of… I do not know how to describe it. Maybe… Secure and stable. Almost everlasting. But you can only tell so much from a color…" Lee was rambling a bit. It was kind of cute.

After a minute in silence, Lee shifted slightly and nodded his head towards the table.

"Still want to play chess?"

"Sure." Gaara heaved himself off the ground and climbed into the red chair, starting to set up the pieces. He preferred the black set, seeing as it was so much easier to analyze when you were one step behind the other, and it was all psychological to him as he often stopped thinking rationally when he was waiting for someone else to analyze him. It unnerved him. Also, the white pieces looked more like cheaters.

The chocolate was now a perfect temperature for drinking, and it made Gaara wonder just how hot it had been when freshly poured. It would've hurt a lot.

Lee set up the white pieces, contently sipping from his green cup.

Lee's first move was moving his horse.

Gaara answered the same, except on the opposite side.

After ten minutes of playing, Gaara got bored. He started to move his pieces around without even trying to look for negative outcomes, and soon, he only had six pieces left.

_Anything but this, Gaara-sama. Watching grass grow would be more entertaining than this. Stop torturing us. Just say, 'We're tired, we don't want to play anymore'. It's easy. Do it. Do it. Do it, do it, do it, do it, DO IT, DO IT, DOITDOITDOIT –_

His thoughts overwhelmed his and he made a sweeping motion with his arm, sending the entire board and pieces flying to the floor. He felt a fraction of sadistic satisfaction as it hit the floor with a _'thunk!'_. Goddamn game.

When Lee sent him a look, he merely said. "It was boring."

Lee pouted, intent on sulking. "…And I was winning, too."

Gaara didn't answer, but observed his lover. He was so cute when he tried to be mad. Lee could never get really mad with people he was even acquaintances with. Only in specific cases when someone tried to murder his acquaintances. Or someone in general. The face he was making right now reminded him of the first Chuunin exams, just before their match. Lee had gone into a pretend-hissy-fit, declaring loudly how 'He might as well go last' and that was the exact face he was making right now. He was so cute.

"Are you quite done?" Gaara said, meaning the little angry-act.

"You are no fun." Lee muttered and crossed his arms over his chest.

"I can be fun." Gaara started to get irritated. Lee was wrong.

"No, you are no fun."

"I can be fun." Gaara repeated, and he started to resemble a less stupid and calmer/cooler Naruto, telling people he _would _become Hokage.

"Yes, of course you are."

"You don't mean that."

Lee didn't answer, but Gaara could detect a faint smile playing on the older man's lips. Damn it, Lee knew how to get under his skin. Gaara was not pleased with it. If there was going to be getting under skin, there was going to be skin to skin contact too. Period.

Gaara strode over to Lee's chair, and to be able to move more freely, knocked the table over. That table had needed to take some serious abuse throughout Gaara's years as Kazekage due to his flaring temper. Suddenly, Gaara felt stupid. He didn't know why, maybe it was the way Lee was looking at him, surprised with his actions.

However, he was determined to not let anything trivial get in his way. Slowly, he leaned towards Lee, grabbing hold of the arm supports of the chair, leaving a centimeter between them, staring into the older boy's coal eyes. Lee closed the remaining distance between them, pressing their lips together in a soft kiss. A hand snaked into his hair, and another started pushing him into the chair onto Lee's lap. He felt Lee smile against his mouth before sneaking his tongue inside the younger one's mouth. Gaara would have blushed, but his body was directing it elsewhere.

A pale hand started to unzip the green jounin jacket and with difficulty slid it off and dropped it on the floor. Then they moved north to untie the forehead protector that Lee always wore nowadays. Another pair of tanned hands started to gently slide the Kazekage robe off his shoulders and started unclasping the buttons running down Gaara's chest.

"Wait." Lee said between the soft kisses. "The lights…"

Gaara was too incoherent to even think about using his sand to turn the lights off, so he got up and almost wobbled towards the switch, passing his desk with a small package on it.

Gaara did a double take. That hadn't been lying there yesterday. The package had a letter taped to it, and he scanned the paper and gulped. Urgent, from Konoha. Sender: Temari, Suna. And according to the date it had arrived two days ago. All thoughts of doing something with Lee was sent down the drain with violent force.

_Oh fuck.__ Oh our fucking God. Shit. Fuck. GET MOVING! MOVE! MOVE! DO SOMETHING! DO SOMETHING!_

Gaara snatched it and ripped the letter open, staring at the contents.

It was two wedding invitations. One for Gaara and one for Lee. And the wedding was still four days away. He tensed up, feeling dread slip into his muscles and numbing them. But he had been picked as the father-role in the wedding, being the one to give Temari away. And the rehearsal was supposed to be in twelve hours.

Fucking holy hell. God_damnit_.

"What is it?" Lee said, who had noticed his lover had started hyperventilating.

Gaara started to go into a hysterical mode. The package itself had contained two large scrolls, stuffed with every single detail about the wedding and dresses and the catering and just everything. That was it. Satoshi was so getting fired. Now they had to make to Konoha sixty hours faster than normal and arrive looking presentable. It was impossible, there was just no way, it was impossible, they couldn't do that, and Gaara wasn't even legitimate to leave just like that, and, and, and, and –

"Gaara, what is the matter with – oh." Lee looked over his shoulder and winced. Gaara got so upset about these things. "Well, we should start packing then."

"No time for packing." Gaara said icily, grabbed Lee by the wrist, dragging him out of the room.

"But we need to pack necessary things for outdoor sleeping arrangements."

"No time for sleeping."

"Provisions –"

"No time for eating."

"I –"

"No. Move it."

"But –"

"I said move it!"

"Let us just calm do –"

"No time for composure."

"I get it. You will get cold if you sleep like that outside, though."

"No time for sleep." he repeated as they reached the gates, having dragged Lee through the entire sleeping village.

To say Gaara felt stressed was an understatement.

Now, how to magically transport back in time?

* * *

Temari would have asked herself, 'where are they?!' but did not. She believed her younger brother had a reason for not showing up at the wedding rehearsal. He had a reason. And a good one, too, probably. Someone probably sawed his leg off, or blew his fuses with a faulty electrical jutsu. There was a legitimate reason he wasn't here. There just had to be one. He couldn't just ditch them. 

Gaara was her brother.

He was supposed to be here.

The people she loved were supposed to be here.

She sat down at her kitchen table, putting her elbows against the wooden surface and hid her face in her hands, exhaling and inhaling slowly to calm herself.

Shikamaru entered the room. Temari pointedly ignored him. He sucked at comforting people anyway.

That was a lie, he was awesome. But Temari would never admit that, as it was all a matter of pride. Her fiancé sat down on a chair next to her, remaining silent. The brunette slowly slid a hand in under her chin and gently pushed her face up away from her hands. He looked at her, and it felt as if he could look into her soul with that stare. It wasn't uncomfortable and prying as it could have been, but rather reassuring. Someone knew how she was feeling, and someone cared. That itself was comforting.

"You know, there's probably a reason he's not here." he said in a casual tone, as if he was asking her if there was anything she needed from the supermarket.

"I know that." she answered airily he withdrew his hand.

"Stop sulking then."

"Stop thinking you know everything, little man."

"But you are sulking, aren't you?"

"Maybe, but I could be brooding. If I was brooding you shouldn't come poking around."

"But I knew you weren't."

"But what if you were wrong then?" she challenged, staring defiantly at him. He sighed tiredly and adapted that look, that 'It's too troublesome, woman, don't ask me that'.

"Troublesome woman. I wasn't wrong, was I? So there's really no reason to –"

"But just imagine for a second that you were wrong. Do you know what you could have caused then?"

Getting-Temari-to-stop-moping-operation successful. Now he only had to run away from her so he didn't have to verbally fight with her, because that is such a bother. Almost as troublesome as another woman he knew, but only almost.

* * *

Tenten gave the Sand kunoichi a once over.

"You're not bad-looking; you just need another color, because this one doesn't go with your skin. Damn it, Suna people are always so much more tanned than normal people. On the other hand, I wouldn't give up living here and moving to a desert for a better shade. Turn around."

The brunette Sand villager complied and Hinata shyly held a piece of shiny blue fabric against her chest and stomach, but retracted it quickly when Tenten frowned.

"Not that one either. Still makes you look kind of… plastic. Damn it, this is so much work!" she exclaimed angrily, and the woman on the stool seemed to shrink. The Konoha kunoichi noticed and was just about to tell her that she wasn't the problem, but her _skin_ when a loud voice agreed with her former statement.

"Hell yeah! Come on now, this is ridiculous! You've been at it for an _hour_! Do you realize how long that is? It's over three thousand six hundred seconds! You have stolen _three thousand six hundred _seconds of my life! I'll never have them back, _ever_!"

"Shut up! If you hate this, why are you here then?!" Tenten roared at the man sitting on a stool next to the group of women, who cowered slightly at the harshness of her voice.

"Aw, come on, don't be like that, girl."

"Shut up Kiba." Tenten said curtly, having an expression of mock-anger plastered across her face.

"Well, fine, but I don't see the big deal. All the colors are fine except that red-orange shit. That was fuckin' awful."

"D-d-don't swear, please." Hinata stuttered, and held a piece of faint yellow up against the younger woman's figure.

"Sorry. But I don't get it."

"You don't have to, that's why all men's clothing looks the same." Tenten said absently, and fiddled with the sand ninja's brown hairdo. "And, thus, the tux was invented."

"And you're saying all tuxes look the same?"

"Yeah." she said, shaking her head at Hinata who put the yellow fabric away and showed a new, deep blue one.

"I agree, they're so boring. But what are you to do? I'd get gutted it I even suggested casual clothing, and imagine if I strutted into their wedding with jeans? She'd go fucking ballistic."

"True." Tenten agreed and dismissed yet another color. "She'd beat your ass."

"I'd usually say fuck you, but I don't dare. She's scary."

"Only if you piss her off. You seem to be quite talented with doing so."

"S'not my fault she has a problem with dogs. She could be a little nicer to Akamaru."

"This one's the one!" Hinata jumped when Tenten ripped a faint pink-tinted white fabric material out of her hands, twirling it around the woman on the stool in ecstasy. "This is the color of the dress you'll be wearing! I'll go talk with the cashier!"

Tenten disappeared and the brunette stepped down from the chair. Hinata was just about to say something, but Akamaru pushed at her legs, tugging her towards Kiba. The dog didn't stop until the Byakugan heir was sitting in the dog master's lap. Blushing, she turned to the younger woman.

"S-s-so, M-Matsuri-san, maid of h-honor is a really important role in a w-wedding. T-Temari-san must think highly of y-you."

"Yeah, she's cool." Matsuri answered and eyed the wedding invitation in her hand.

* * *

"Move, move, move, move, move, move, move, move, move, move, mo –"

"Gaara-sama! This is irrational! We have already missed the rehearsal and we have nothing more to be late for, please calm down!"

When Gaara only continued to run, Lee rushed forward and imprisoned Gaara in his arms, halting further movement. "Calm down. Take deep breaths."

_Move, move, move, move, move, move, move, move, move, MOVE, MOVE, MOVE, MOVE, MOVE, MOVE, MOOOOOVE!_

CALM DOWN? It was more likely that he would just burst into flames and turn into a bloody time machine.

Gaara wanted to be a time machine right now.

It would save him some grief. He knew Temari, and she could only react to this in two ways; a) be insanely angry and be generally intimidating, or even worse, b) be quiet, sad and disappointed in him, which made Gaara's stomach churn. He hated it when that happened. She did scare him when she was angry, but he never worried about it. When she was sad, or lonely, he worried.

When depression struck her, it was serious and could require some form of psychologist to help her recover (if the horrendous misunderstanding she had been involved with had not been solved, of course).

He couldn't calm down.

They had to move.

Move.

**Move**.

**Move**!

_HURRY!_

"Are you calmer now?" Lee asked, relaxing his grip on him slightly.

Gaara took the offered opening and made a large hand of sand, scooping the brunette into it and taking off at an inhuman speed, sand following like a dog.

He hoped Temari was earth-quaking mad when he arrived.

* * *

(1) Yeah, right…

**NOTICE: **Most of you already understand this, but I know some people can be really sensitive about this, so I'll say it anyway. The part when Gaara and Lee play chess and Gaara starts thinking about what color he is, he thinks he doesn't want to be the color black. Some people will probably interpret it as 'OMFG, FUCKING RACIST!', but that's not what I want it to be pictured as. The color black is usually a very depressing and indifferent color when using it in, e.g. paintings and such; therefore Gaara does not like it. There. Now you can't possibly think I meant something racist about it. Of course you could, but don't flame for something I've already explained.

**A/N**: What did you think about it? Tell me :3 SPOIL ME, or send me into deep thought. :o


	8. The wedding

**A/N**: It's shorter than usual, but it's TEN DAYS earlier than I expected. Apparently, I'm smarter than I thought, the assignment wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. snicker hey ho, let's go. TODAY'S SONG IS: MR. BRIGHTSIDE, with 'The Killers', HELL YEAH! (_It started out with a kiss, how did it end up like this? Now, he takes off her dress. Now, letting me go. I'm Mr. Brightside_.)

**Disclaimer**:So… You know… Yeah, I own it all. Send me money. guys in white coats approach So… You know… Enjoy my fanfic that I don't own at all. Only the plot. :)

**Pairings**: MAIN GaaLee, other; ShikaTema, KibaHina, NaruSasu, and some one-sided KanKiba & InoKan.

**Warnings**: Strong language. MalexMale action, awful clichéness somewhere, I apologize.

**Notice**: Sorry for all the bashing of a certain character, but Gaara's not so found of him… I personally think he's kinda amusing in a paranormal way... from a distance. Guess who?

* * *

Well, they hadn't made it in time. Not even close to in time. In fact, the phrase 'in time' would have laughed at their attempt to make it in time. 'In time' was so far beyond their reach a lap around the entire earth would seem like a piece of cake. The mere knowledge of that the phrase 'in time' existed mocked them, seeing as they were not able to even touch the arts of arriving in time.

And, thus, Gaara was pissed.

And even more so when he found out that they weren't rehearsing the wedding itself, but the dining afterwards.

How was he supposed to practice eating food? It was a very simple and easy concept which most living things mastered. Gaara believed it would include nothing more than just staring at a plate while someone explained to the less intelligent humans how to use a fork and a knife.

It was not.

It was so far from easy and simple it was keeping 'in time' company, laughing cruelly at them.

So, there were five different forks, five knives and even three spoons, all in different sizes. There were even different glasses to use for different drinks. Not that Gaara would even bother to try learning them, a lazy habit he had picked up from his brother-in-law, but he pitied the poor people who Temari could actually scare enough into learning it.

No attempt in the world would have made Gaara scared enough to care what size the fork he was using was.

So, therefore, he was less politely asked to leave by his older sister.

The Kazekage was pleased about that.

She could have forcibly tried to remove him from the practice area using her large fan to summon her little weasel rodent. It would not have been pretty, as Gaara was extra easy to annoy right now after the endless running from Suna to here. He could accidentally have snapped and murdered her. He was tired, hungry, sweaty, and God his feet were _so_ goddamn sore they could just as well be chopped off, he couldn't feel them anyway.

"Gaara-sama, we cannot walk around like this all day." Lee pointed out as they walked on the main street of Konoha. "It is unhygienic."

Gaara silently agreed, but was just too tired to talk. In fact, he was too tired to even act at all. But he knew their obscene scent could probably be detected by shinobi hounds miles away. And they were probably not pleased about it. Lee knew Gaara agreed with him, luckily.

"We could go to my apartment and shower?"

The redhead tried to made an approving noise, but found the feat impossible as his throat was too dry. But at least he could walk. That training had actually paid off. Hn, so taijutsu could be useful somewhat. Not much. Taijutsu was still the most disgusting fighting form to exist upon this earth. Genjutsu was cooler.

"Alright then. Let us go."

They walked in silence almost all they way. Well, it wasn't really silence. It was more of a one-way conversation where Lee asked him a question, gave him a happy smile and then answered it himself. It was kind of cute, because he seemed so content and happy with the fact that he wasn't even talking, just walking with him.

Gaara spotted the house Lee lived in (yes, a house, A-rank missions are well paid) and he could almost feel the water dripping down his body, cleansing him. God, he was going to enjoy that shower to an unhealthy amount, it would be an almost perverse pleasure.

Lee was just about to unlock his door with the keys he had taken from his leg holster when the door was flung open from the inside, banging into the wall with a loud noise. There were no words in this language or any other to describe the utmost horror that took hold of Gaara and twisted his heart into a million pieces, splattering his emotions like a ripe tomato. No. Oh God, no. For the love of God, **NO**.

"LEE!"

"GAI-SENSEI!"

Gaara bolted.

* * *

Gaara sat down beside the river a bit outside of Konoha, dipping his dully aching feet into the cold stream. The sound of water floating and jumping soothed him from his former shock, or rather his former moment of hysteria. What kind of fucked up human would sit in someone's house, waiting for the person living there to come home? It was beyond the term normal and crossed the borders of paranormal in the blink of an eye.

Lee's mentor was just fucking crazy.

_We're afraid of him. What if he's contagious and we get infected with that ghastly thing he must be carrying? No normal person can be like that if they're not sick in some way. He's insane and probably has a developed sort of rabies. The more reason to stay away from him._

Of course, it wasn't very Gaara-like to run, escape, retreat, withdraw, quit, desert, flee or another synonym for abandoning battle, so he had merely departed to do more pleasant things than associate with the green clad mentor. Like, jumping off of a cliff, set himself on fire with matches or choke himself. The alternatives were endless. The redhead decided a dip in the cold river to numb himself would be fitting as all the bacteria that could have possibly attached themselves to him when he spent a few seconds in the same vicinity as Gai would be washed away.

Still, afterwards, sitting on the river bank, drenched in arctic cold water, he figured it might have been smarter to not throw himself in headfirst without discarding his clothes, but only ridding himself of the heavy gourd.

The gourd would be destroyed if it came in contact with water.

Nothing was to touch his gourd.

Nothing.

His precious gourd.

Gaara began stroking the gourd gently with his dry hand.

_Our precious…_

"Gaara." was uttered from behind him, and a part of Gaara instantly wished he was far away. How very embarrassing. "What are you doing?"

He turned around and was faced with the bug master, Shino. He wore a white summer outfit which actually showed his entire face. The black sunglasses remained firmly on, though. The Konoha nin just looked at him for a second, the walked over to him and sat down next to the freezing Kazekage.

The two of them never hung out, just them, and they only associated because their company did.

Of course, they matched each other perfectly. They rarely spoke, and when they did, they talked in a similar way, Shino being maybe a little more flexible in social situations than Gaara. Other than that, there was really nothing that differed between them other than their rank, as Shino had yet to make it into the ANBU top roots.

Although rank wasn't supposed to change anything, Gaara had read in a book, if you both were fair people.

Was Shino fair? Gaara had no idea at all. The bug master was very reserved and secretive, due to no fault of his own. Clan children were raised not to utter the clan's secrets to neither friend nor foe.

Some people mastered the technique to keep clan secrets; the power to keep their mouths _shut_, like Shino. Other people could not, like Kiba.

Kiba was a dork.

Gaara didn't like Kiba.

He was too weird-ish and … dog-ish.

"Hello Shino." He answered; ignoring the question and dipped his feet into the stream only too pull them out. it was arctic cold and it felt unnecessary to numb them right now as they didn't ache anymore.

"What are you doing here?" the bug master asked. Gaara noted that he seemed very talkative at the moment. Strange.

"I jumped in the stream."

To anyone watching them it would have been boring. They both spoke in slow, monotone voices and wasn't quick to answer either.

"Why would you do that?"

"The shower I thought was available proved to be not available."

"Ah."

Gaara nodded, not really sure of why. It felt right at the moment.

"Did your sister get angry with you because of your late arrival?" Shino said, changing the subject, studying a small black beetle sitting on his index finger.

"Somewhat, yes."

"She's a very independent woman, is she not?"

"Yes, I would have to say that she is."

Why was he still talking? Was he always this eager to converse?

Shino shifted slightly, falling silent. There was something about his aura that made Gaara a little unnerved, as if the bug master was waiting for the world to end any minute now. Was it because of a reason the redhead knew nothing of or was it because Gaara scared him? He seriously doubted it was the latter. The brunette was one of the most capable ninja he had ever seen. He had harbored a subconscious respect for him since the Chuunin exams, from his ability to defeat Kankurou, which made him strong.

_Yes, yes, respect, more useless drawl, bla bla bla. __Can we go and check up on Temari now? No, we can't do that! She wants to organize the wedding now, and during it she will want to be her new husband and after that she will want to be with him again, and after that she will be pregnant and hormonal. Well, duh, the more reason to go see her now! No, she doesn't want to see us right now! She wants to be with her fiancé! But… If that's the case, will she ever want to be with us?_

Gaara visibly tensed.

Temari would always want to be with Shikamaru.

In sickness, and in health, till death do them part.

That was what that vow meant.

Would she ever take time to be… with him again? Or Kankurou?

Only now, the real consequences of letting Temari wed the shadow wielder hit him.

Hard.

She was going to live in Konoha. Of course, she would have the rights to travel between the villages, but… her child would live in Konoha, and her husband would live in Konoha, and her friends would live in Konoha. Even if her brothers were in Suna… Would she want to be there? Would she want to part with her everything to visit her old family? Would she still love them enough to sacrifice time away from her precious child and husband to be with Kankurou and himself?

No.

Small drops of sweat started to form on his forehead and his vision started to blur.

She wouldn't.

She would never want to part with Shikamaru or her child.

In sickness and in health, till death do them part.

Gaara had observed families back in Suna. The parents would scold their kids, yell at them, ignore them and even punish them, but… In the end, they would sacrifice anything, including their own life, and others, for the sake of their child. Nothing would ever happen to children with parents, because… It would always be someone to give up everything for them and care for them and love them and nurse them and be with them and just…

The blood in his veins seemed to stop flowing and just freeze.

His older sister would never want to come back to Suna.

She would want to be with her new family.

Temari wouldn't want him to steal time from her to selfishly keep some of her affection for himself.

_Sometimes __you really screw us over, Gaara-sama._

This wasn't funny. This was not a joke. His _sister _was about to be taken away from him! And… he had done it to himself. It could, from one point of view, be seen upon as a noble act, a deeper act for the greater good of someone else. Because…

Because…

Temari was in love with Shikamaru.

Gaara swallowed, and Shino observed him, as if trying to pry his skull open and inspect his thoughts.

Love was a very fickle thing. He knew that because he was in a peculiar situation himself.

"You seem to be deep in thought." Shino stated to his left. Well, yes, he was. Why would Shino state such an obvious fact? There was something weird going on right now, because Gaara didn't really feel at home right now.

Gaara nodded.

Shino moved to lay down on his back in the grass, hands crossed behind his head.

"I can't help but be curious. You are the one that arranged the marriage to be possible, yes?" he said calmly.

Gaara was not calm, but tried to keep acting like he was. "Yes."

"Why would you do that?"

Damn. How was he supposed to answer this then?

He couldn't. Because he a part of him regretted doing this for her. He wanted her to be happy, but he also wanted to be happy himself, a selfish, greedy and thievish part of him. That was a part of him that hadn't been awoken for a long time. But now… It was getting hard to suppress him. Gaara knew exactly what he would do if awoken.

He would ruin the wedding.

He would rip the wedding document into a million pieces and set them on fire, burying the remains underground in the forest.

He would drag Temari home, bound and gagged if necessary.

And he would be… accompanied by the people he loved.

But his beloved sibling wouldn't want to be with him.

She would want to run away from him.

Escape.

It hurt him to think about.

Shino smiled.

Gaara blinked.

The bug master had smiled? That was a little weird, and maybe a little awkward. What did it imply? What did he mean? What message was he sending Gaara? And wasn't that very paranormal, for the Aburame heir to smile?

"Yes indeed, you seem to be in deep thought. Have you ever considered to not think so much?"

Gaara stabilized himself. This was ridiculous. He was the Kazekage and he shouldn't get wobbly because of some muscles moving about. It was absurd and it was not happening.

"Why?"

"The most unpredictable things are done with a hazy mind. And it is the unpredictable in our lives that change our routine."

"I take it you don't believe in things such as 'fate', 'coincidence' or 'chance'?" Gaara asked in a monotone voice, mind drifting off, wondering if Gai was still with Lee. Because if he was, he would soon have to be removed. Although Gaara would not admit it, he was a closet-cuddler, and Lee was going to be his snuggle-post very soon. He needed comfort.

"No. There is no fate, no matter what Hyuuga says."

"I quite agree with you."

Now Gaara was bored with talking, and his clothes were dry now, so there was no real reason to stay except socializing. And he would socialize with Lee close up real soon. He got to his feet, and Shino remained laying on the grass. He said a curt goodbye, received one, slung the gourd across his shoulders and started walking towards the village. Somehow, it seemed… less appealing, now that he knew Gai was there. He couldn't pretend the green clad man was on a mission, because he had seen him.

Goddamn it, his whole day was ruined. He was going to have nightmares about him. Damn it all to hell. Why did he have to exist anyhow?

Gaara passed the Ichiraku ramen bar.

And made an abrupt stop. That sight just had to be seen. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity.

A brunette was sitting at the counter. He was wearing a white shirt along with a tight pair of black pants that probably belonged to the standard ANBU uniform. His posture was slightly ruffled because his back was pressed into the wall as well as the back of his head. Across him, a blonde boy was sitting, or more like leaning. He was wearing an orange atrocity that only someone like him could pull off looking sexy. Their faces were almost touching, and two tan hands were plastered onto the wall with the brunette's head in between them. They were talking, almost whispering to each other, lips touching briefly as they moved. A little flush spread across the paler boy's cheeks, but vanished in the blink of an eye.

Naruto and Sasuke.

Well, not that it hadn't been a little obvious, but… Wasn't this a little too… Public?

Gaara settled for just watching them. Naruto had a predator kind of look in his eyes, and Sasuke was wearing a seductive grin that just screamed 'I dare you to come and get me'. It seemed the Hokage-in-training was about to do just so, judging by his stance. God, he was looking at that man like he was a piece of meat. The sexual intentions rolled off them in thick waves, slamming into onlookers, most of them sitting in the restaurant across the street. True, that was only an old couple and a young girl, but still. The corners of Gaara's mouth twitched, forming an almost-smirk. If Uzumaki had made up his mind… Uchiha was in for a rough night.

Oh well.

Hope they weren't… _vocal_.

That would be a bit embarrassing. If Gaara were to categorize the Uchiha… well, the brunette would be labeled 'screamer', Gaara was fairly sure of it. The Sharingan user looked like it, even though if wasn't that obvious. Most people would have missed it. Of course, the redhead had no way of knowing, he could be wrong. If Gaara was, which he doubted, wrong, what would the raven be like then? He was sexy, but if he kept that façade up during sex, wouldn't it become a slight turnoff? Because, his partner would take that as that they weren't sexy enough to tear his walls down.

That would be a huge turnoff.

Hn.

Hey.

Wait…

Fuck!

Now he had been distracted!

…

He was easier to distract these days.

What happened to his one way mind?

* * *

"So… how come you've been hanging out with the girls the entire day? All out of testosterone or what?"

"Shut up."

"Well, I don't get it, man. You're all girly and shit now."

"Shut up."

"Did you even let them braid your hair?"

"Shuddup."

Kankurou took another sip of his drink and smirked. "Well, why can't you –"

"DAMN IT ALL TO FUCKING HELL, MAN!" Kiba burst out, slamming his beer down on the counter with a violent thump and jumped to his feet. "WILL YOU STOP MAKING FUN OF ME?!"

The Sand shinobi's grin merely widened and took another calm sip of his drink, knowing his self-possessed composure would bother the younger male. And, as predicted, the dog lover's fists turned white and he turned slightly red in his entire face. Kankurou was _so _good at this. And God it was so much fun. So he said so.

"But it's so much fun." he said, imitating Kiba's former male teammate Shino.

Kiba sat down, sighing, realizing it was an impossible battle.

"The next one will mean war, you realize that?" the younger brunette said tiredly, as if he didn't really mean what he was saying.

"Speaking of which, we have an forty-five minute gap until _you_…" Kankurou snickered, and Kiba aimed a punch at his shoulder. "… have to go back to all the women, discussing clothes and make up."

"Fuck, the next one will cost you a black eye, dolly."

Kankurou ignored the threat. "Wanna spar?"

Kiba lit up, looking enthusiastic. "Yeah! Let's go!"

The older man frowned, and observed Kiba getting up, chugging the last of his beer and motioning for him to get up. Why did he get so eager all of the sudden? Kankurou racked his brain for an answer, and sourly found one. Damn sly dog.

"On one condition, though."

Kiba subconsciously gave a tiny, tiny, _tiny_ pout and asked, "What?"

"You can't have Akamaru use his piss technique." (1)

Kiba plopped down on his chair again, waving at the bartender at the far end of the bar, saying in a sour, spoilt tone like a little child; "I don't wanna spar anymore."

"You shithead! You don't want to because of that? What kind of ninja are you, anyway?"

A sexual implication, very minor, was detected by Kankurou in his own voice and the easy air around him turned slightly heavier. But only a little.

"A devoted and fair one. You, you cheater, on the other hand, are trying to give me all these nerfs! What if I said, no, you can't use your puppets?" The dog master said, crossing his arms.

"Done." It flew out of his mouth before he could even react to Kiba's words.

Oops.

Damn it, he had been so easily distracted by a few of his own words.

He was so fucking stupid. How was he supposed to fight now then? Of course the puppets would injure Kiba so badly if they were used seriously they could possibly kill him, but most likely they would sending him into a long stay at the hospital. That would be a little unnecessary, and... Kankurou didn't really want Kiba in the hospital.

Oh, well.

"Then we make this a taijutsu spar only?" Kiba said as he wrenched Kankurou out of his seat and strode out of the bar, sensing victory in the air as maybe the younger male was more skilled in taijutsu than the Sand shinobi.

"So you really took this all so seriously?" Kankurou said, meaning that taijutsu only was mostly used in blood feuds or other similar semi-serious matters. "Because, man, you know I'm always joking and – " Kankurou had to stop talking because of the little bursts of laughs/snorts escaping him, interrupting him. Kiba punched him as hard as he could from his position, dragging the puppet master to the training grounds.

When they got there, the Suna shinobi was so out of breath because of excessive laughing he had to put his hands on his knees to remain standing and not falling down into a pile och shaking flesh.

"Haha, very funny, jerk-off." Kiba said sourly, and socked him hard in the arm.

"Oww, you fuck!" Kankurou hollered, it hurt, damnit! "Now it's on!"

They both took traditional taijutsu stances, Kankurou looking slightly unsure. He was much more comfortable knowing he could fend the strong dog lover off with something else than his own fists. His puppets (Dollies, Temari would say) were the sole reason of his confidence in battle; they were unbeatable. Period. Without them… he felt vulnerable. And he had given them up just because of the fact that the Konoha shinobi was a spoilt little brat.

Kiba moved to strike first, running towards him in a frightening speed. Kankurou dug his hand into his leg holster, latching a kunai to his palm. The shorter male did likewise, and their weapons clashed, and a spark of white, almost blue fire split through the metal. The dog lover dropped down to ground level, crouching, and made a sweeping motion with his left leg. The taller man easily jumped over to avoid it, but nearly had his painted face smashed in when a heel came flying out of no where.

Jumping a few meters away, he quickly analyzed the situation. Kiba was faster than him, and in brute strength they were fairly matched, but Kankurou knew he had more endurance than his companion. How to use this to his advantage without being a coward and just waiting for his sparring partner to tire?

A closed fist bashed into the tree where his head had been a millisecond earlier, and Kankurou deftly rolled away on reflex.

"Come on you coward!" Kiba yelled in frustration, plucking his fist from the created dent in the tree. The tree still shook with the previous powerful impact.

Kankurou blinked.

Impact.

Impact.

Impact was the answer.

They were equally strong, and if Kankurou delivered a long, powerful series of punches and kicks, the younger male would tire with defending and attacking at the same time, slowing him down, and thus giving Kankurou the only advantage.

Kankurou mentally patted himself on the back; he was damn smart, if expressing his own point of view.

He jumped backwards, landing on the balls of his feet, gathered chakra in the soles of his shoes and then shot forward like a bullet.

Kiba spun around, loading a powerful blow into his system and readying his punch for the oncoming target.

Kankurou repressed the immediate urge to move his fingers in a regular defense pattern which would usually send a shielding puppet in front of his own body. His entire body tensed, almost tasting the awaiting blow. The younger male drew his hand forward, and his opponent twisted his body backwards in an awkward position, landing an earth-quaking punch on the other's kneecap, unbalancing him.

Only afterwards he realized he would not be able to keep himself from falling backwards as one of his hands was currently still flying in the air after delivering the hit, the other left one too far behind him to be of any support and his left leg was in the same situation as his left hand.

He fell backwards, as calculated, landing on the hard ground with force.

It was calculated.

He knew the earth was hard.

What he knew would happen but forgot to count into the score was that Kiba also lost his balance due to his blow to the knees, and the younger male smacked down on him, roughly knocking the air out of his lungs. Coughing and wheezing, he tried to suck some oxygen into his system.

Damn it, how the fuck did a shorty like Kiba get so goddamn heavy?!

Wait.

Oh fuck.

He realized the heavy blanket resting heavily on top of him was Kiba's body.

He was too close.

Just… too close.

He could feel Kiba's breath on his neck, pricking at his skin.

So goddamn _close_…

He imagined himself turning, brushing his lips against the red painting on that cheek, grabbing his shoulders and rolling him over. Kiba would look up at him and Kiba would know, he would just know, their eyes would lock, and Kankurou would lean downwards to be met halfway, and it wouldn't be a hopeless crush anymore, it would be returned feelings, and just…

After a few seconds of blissful ignorance, his warm furnace removed itself, jumping to his feet. Kankurou exhaled deeply; apparently he had been holding his breath.

"Fucking shit in hell! Damnit! I was supposed to meet Hinata a quarter ago!"

And Kankurou's heart broke into a million pieces.

* * *

_His black cloak billowed in the light breeze._

"_Three days."_

* * *

(1) I feel obliged to tell, even if you already know. That's Akamaru's _Dynamic Marking Technique, _which, as the name suggests, is an attack in which Akamaru drench the target with urine, making it impossible to hide as their canine sense of smell sniff them up. Often used in combo moves together with other attacks, such as _Jinjū Konbi Henge: Sōtōrō, _Man Beast Combination Transformation: Double-Headed Wolf. You can see this attack in the Sasuke retrieval arc in Kiba's battle against Sakon.

**A/N**: AAAAAAH, I HATE BATTLE SCENES, DAMN IT! Review and help me yell in anguish. I should have written an AU fic instead. They wouldn't fight there. Tell me what you think :3


	9. My precious, Memoirs of a shinobi

**A/N**: TODAY'S SONG IS _Time is running out _by 'Muse'. Gaaawd, I lurv them. (Sorry it's late!)

**Disclaimer**:** '**M tired. I just want 'Tachi. Why can' I have 'im? I thought we were buds, Kishimoto…

**Pairings**: MAIN GaaLee, other; ShikaTema, KibaHina, NaruSasu, and some one-sided KanKiba & InoKan.

**Warnings**: Strong language, attempts at humor.

**Notice**: I noticed I haven't told, Satoshi is a character in the manga '_DN angel_', which I don't own. So he's not my OC. Boohoo.

**Notice**: Sorry for the bashing of Neji, Sasuke and Sakura. I like them (I hate Sakura in the first part, but she's okay now), but Gaara doesn't.

* * *

Gaara sat in his office in Suna, sorting papers, taking documents from the astronomically large pile and putting them into different smaller ones.

He thought back to the wedding a week ago. It had been beautiful. Especially Temari with her expensive dress, she just shone when she had walked down the aisle with him. It had cost him willpower to let her slip out of his grip like that, but he just couldn't bear not to. She had been smiling and looking so ridiculously happy it would have been a crime not to let her go.

He had been forced to travel home a few hours after the ceremony. The Suna council had deemed it unfitting for him to be away from Sunagakure for such a long time, and he had some understanding of that, as he was the Kazekage, but it didn't stop him from being pissy about it.

And, now, he had even more reason to be annoyed. He had been putting it off long enough, and he really had to do it. Satoshi was to be fired. That package he had failed to inform him of, Temari's wedding invitation, had been the last straw. Gaara needed a competent secretary, and it seemed Satoshi just wasn't cut out for the responsible role that this job required.

He sighed and put his head in his hands.

He didn't really want to fire the blue-haired nin, he was quite comfortable with him.

But if another accident like that were to happen again, Gaara would have to kill the man himself, and Satoshi was pretty, and pretty people were better off alive because people could stand looking at them. (1)

"Satoshi…" He called, and said man entered the room, looking as far off as usual.

This was going to be harder than he thought; Satoshi was just so innocent and pure.

After fifteen minutes of gently easing the older man into what he was trying to say, Satoshi seemed to catch onto what he was saying.

He didn't seem to take it too hard. Gaara asked him why.

"You know that boy? The shy one?" (2)

Gaara nodded. He could vaguely remember Satoshi talking about someone who was very shy. Not that they had been talking, the bluehaired nin had merely been speaking his mind in Gaara's hearing range.

"He asked me out." Satoshi pushed his glasses further up his nose, smiling dreamily. "I'm nervous about what to do tonight, being the first date and all… You know? But I'm so excited, too!"

Gaara didn't know. He hadn't really had a first date, because…

"So, anyway, I'm off. Try to be nice to the new one, okay?"

After the smoky redhead had promised to not kill any of the applicants and gone through a few minutes of small-talk, Satoshi disappeared. Gaara sunk down in his comfy chair and stared at the large stack of documents to sign, read, write responses to, and another thousand alternatives. He did not have the strength for the right now. He was frustrated about the fact that he had absolutely no idea when he could possibly slip away a week to Konoha, and even more because he knew there was just no way that could happen. Suna was extremely low on available shinobi for the time being, and there was nearly not enough to patrol the perimeter. And if, on top of that, even the Kazekage was to leave the village, there could start a civil war.

He sighed.

What bothered him the most was the way he left things with Lee.

They had spent one day together. Nothing more, and then he had left in a rather uncomfortable manner. Gaara, Lee, Temari and Kankurou had somehow on their way to the gate managed to gather an entire flock of people wanting to say their goodbyes when the male siblings took off. This had made things a little complicated as the redhead had no idea of how to say goodbye.

It had ended it with a small hug among others (God, Naruto had so goddamn little sense, of course a hug that forceful would bruise. Stupid idiot.) and a glance in the corner of his eye when turning around and running towards his village directed to Lee, who had smiled slightly.

It had been brutal.

Gaara tried to visualize Konoha's serene surroundings to recreate some of its given calm, but it came to an abrupt stop when people he did _not want_ to see start prancing around in the forest clearing. There, right in the middle, among the half dozen people, was Gai in his green spandex, bowl cut, shining teeth and burning eyes, giving him a thumb up, in other words, doing the Nice Gai pose.

If anything, it made him nervous and sickly frightened.

In his visual image, he spotted another Konoha nin he did not harbor friendly feelings for. Silky black hair, cold eyes flickering between red and obsidian, a superior smirk clothing his face with the usual ANBU outfit except for one change (was it even legal to do something like that to a uniform?), a small red and white fan between his shoulder blades.

Uchiha Sasuke.

Gaara did not like him, either.

Next to the Sharingan user stood another disliked shinobi. Gaara couldn't point out why he hated cocky and overconfident people as he was one himself. The man was a few centimeters shorter than Uchiha, and his long hair cascaded over his shoulders. The white, abnormal bloodline eyes stared hard at him as if trying to gorge his soul and being out his body. His hitai-ate rested in his clenched fist, and a green tattoo was stretched across his pale forehead.

Hyuuga Neji.

Goddamn fucking idiot.

_He hate him more than the Uchiha boy, don't we, Gaara__-sama? He's a spoilt little brat and we want to crush him. And we almost had the chance. Remember, Gaara-sama? The fourth Chuunin exam?_

Sitting cross-legged in front of the two males sat the female Gaara absolutely _hated _more than anything on earth. Her pink hair was something he dreamed about cutting off and burning.

_Let's not go there again, shall we, Gaara-kun?_

Oh, well. As long as she kept away from him, he wouldn't have to forcefully extract her soul and banish it to hell.

_Think of something nice instead, then._

He willed his mind away from them and tried to think of nice things from Konoha.

Naruto.

Lee.

But his mind couldn't seem to grasp the pleasuring things from the vision. The two favored objects blurred and the three disgusting ninjas' mental appearances bothered Gaara to the extent that he could almost feel their breath on his neck. He wanted them to go away, damnit!

_Kill._

Gaara couldn't escape the memories now, so he just let them take over for a while. Anything to get away from what needed to be done with those godforsaken papers.

He just let the memories flow.

---

_Sabaku no Gaara __vs. Hyuuga Neji_

_0 - 0_

_Ready, steady, go._

---

"Kazekage-sama. We are honored that you decided to attend to the Chuunin exams." an ANBU with a red and black mask featuring no animal in particular, just a gentle face, said, bowing deeply.

Gaara gave him a slight nod and walked to sit down in the large chair above the stands next to the Konoha Kage Tsunade-hime. She was for once actually wearing the Hokage robe and her face was set in a determent grimace, as if she felt uncomfortable. Perhaps she was. This was the fourth Chuunin exam, and the village Konoha was still a little shaken up about Sasuke's return a month ago.

She probably wished this was done with quickly and that there were no disturbances.

Gaara could tell she was nervous about something.

Not that he cared. He merely took notice as that is shinobi instinct.

He looked out over the oval arena.

The stands were packed with people from different nations, most of them from Konoha or Suna, but also a fair share of mist nins. So far, the Kazekage had seen three ninjas, females, from Amegakure. Tsunade apparently had a grudge against that village, watching her grind her teeth at them. Maybe she had been involved in the war between Amegakure and Konohagakure a long time ago? It wasn't totally impossible.

He glanced out at the field. Eighteen genin had walked out onto the battle arena, and a familiar examiner stepped out alongside with them. His appearance was cold and strained, and Gaara would not have picked him to be an examiner as in the moment the older man looked like he'd be happy to witness some killing.

Namely, it looked like something was bothering him.

Like an enormous stick shoved up his ass.

Gaara attempted to in someway physically injure the Byakugan user's with the dead glare he sent at his back. To no avail as the brunette didn't burst into flames or started to stab himself. Damn it all to hell.

Forcing him to ignore the presence of the man, he concentrated on the battle about to take place. A tall girl with boyish flaming red hair stood facing a short brunette boy whom seemed to be smirking at her. The female lost her composure and started shaking her fists at him, enraged. The boy huffed and looked at her like she was some form of lower status animal.

It reminded Gaara of another match he had seen when participating himself.

"The match will start in three…" Neji spoke in a bored tone. "Two… One… Now."

The female charged at the short boy with a war cry, wildly swinging her fists about, and he easily evaded her clumsy attack.

After en hour, all of them had fought. The best match had been the second one were two identical twins had been put up against each other and they had mercilessly pummeled the shit out of each other, the match ending in a draw as they both gave up at the same time, acknowledging that they were equally strong. That had also been the only match the contestants had been skilled enough to make Gaara able to ignore Neji's presence on the arena.

He was so infuriating.

Stuck up idiot.

And Gaara was even more angry with him when the three Kages (Tsuande, himself and the Mizukage), the council of Konoha and Suna, a chosen group of twelve Konohagakure ANBU's, all team leaders and the examiner all gathered to choose which of the genin were to ascend to the ranks of chuunin. Right now, they were discussing the twin boys, as they had easily decided neither of the starting two which had both been from Suna was to become chuunin as they both lacked common shinobi knowledge and also analyzed each other badly.

They were discussing the identical teens. All seven team leaders (one of them being Kankurou) were voting for the both of them to be promoted, while all but one ANBU disagreed. Six of the Suna council voted no, and four yes. Six of the Konoha council voted yes, and four no. Gaara, Tsunade and the Mizukage all voted for their chuunin progress.

After all those opinions, there was a tie. Twenty one to twenty one, and there was only one single vote left, belonging to Hyuuga Neji.

"Was there something you noticed that we in the stands wouldn't have seen?" Tsunade asked him, and all eyes was focused on him.

He shook his head at her question, taking his time answering, trying to get what he wanted to say in a collected manner.

After a minute, he decided not to give any reasons whatsoever.

"I say…" No one would have been able to see it, but the Hyuuga sent him a spiteful glare, telling him that this decision was made to anger him. "No."

_Let's kill him._

"Then that's decided then." Tsunade said haughtily, as she was displeased about it too. They had been perfectly capable ninjas and seemed mature enough to be able to handle the chuunin missions, like leading a team on a simpler mission.

Neji sent another small smirk his way, and Gaara's nails broke skin because of how hard he was clenching his fists. That was not fair judgment and it was not the way these things were to be handled.

"The two next ones, then." The Mizukage said sourly, flipping through the paper sheets in his hands, looking at the next contestants files. "Yabun Naito and Awai Dei."

"No." was heard from both councils, all of them.

All team leaders, ANBU's and two Kages responded with a mutual "Yes."

Gaara had to agree with the council, even though it made him feel sick to his stomach. The two of them had not been aware of their surroundings enough. "No."

"Yes." Hyuuga said calmly, and the smoky redhead once again got that little glance his way.

When this meeting was over, that piece of shit was going to spend some less pleasant time inside his sand coffin.

After an hour and forty five minutes, the meeting was adjourned as it seemed they would get no further right now. One team leader had voted blank, and there was a draw. Neither sides were willing to accept another decision than their own, and they were to meet up tomorrow to have some time to cool off, to relax.

Gaara, on the other hand, was all but relaxed and calm.

The Hyuuga walked right in front of him.

"Hyuuga." he called out, and said man stopped and turned around, looking at him like some sort of disgusting mucus.

"Hai?" he answered curtly.

_We will enjoy this._

"You do realize your inability to judge fairly will cost you your examiner status and probably also add some sort of manual labor to your work as punishment?"

"Why would that happen?"

"You didn't judge fairly." he repeated coldly, stepping closer as the taller man did the same. Mere inches apart, they stared angrily at each other. An outsider would have believed they only sized each other up, measuring if it was worth the trouble to fight. That was not the case. There was going to be a fight, and it was going to be violent.

"What makes you say that?"

He smirked.

Gaara snapped.

He took a step back, and started forming the first hand sigh in the 'Sand Coffin' series, and Neji took a traditional taijutsu stance, eyes determined.

Just as he was about to cover the Konoha nin in sand, two hands shot out from no where and grabbed both his elbows, forcing him to a stop. He turned around and was faced with one of Kankurou's dolls, puppets if you will. The grinning face was annoying him.

At the same time, Neji felt two strong arms slide in under his own and clasp together in front of his chest, holding him in an iron grip. He had been so absorbed in the fight to come he hadn't noticed the man behind him closing up. He looked at the hands. Tan and calloused, and the arms connected to them were clothed in green spandex.

Two pair of hands found their way to Gaara's body, and started dragging him back. Temari and Kankurou laughed nervously as the puppet was disposed of with a shake of his arms, but they still hung on tight and continued to tow him away. Gaara tried keeping his dignity, looking like a statue when they dragged him away.

"Lee, let go of me!" Neji yelled angrily, wriggling about in his former teammates arms. Said man merely smiled, turned away and started walking with the protesting ninja firmly secured to his chest. Tenten strolled beside the two of them; apparently confident Lee would be able to contain the unwilling jounin.

At the sight of Lee and Neji so close to each other, Gaara started struggling, wanting to hurt the Hyuuga even more. He wasn't worthy of even existing in the same universe as Lee!

_KILL HIM._

"Let. Go of me." He hissed in a deathly tone at his siblings, the ton which gave children nightmares.

Temari laughed nervously again and tightened her grip. Kankurou looked another way, almost straining his neck in doing so, pretending not to have heard.

"You will let. Go. Of me. Now."

Once again, he was ignored, even as he could feel their fear seeping into the air around them.

_Kill them too._

_---_

_Sabaku no Gaara __vs. Hyuuga Neji_

_0 - 0_

_Interference. Rescheduled._

_---_

---

_Sabaku no Gaara __vs. Uchiha Sasuke_

_0 - 0_

_Ready, steady, go._

---

Gaara was still seething.

Goddamn siblings! Why did they interfere with his life at all?! They should've just let him kill that Hyuuga brat.

_Kill them._

Somewhere in his mind he made a mental note to stop encouraging himself to kill people. It would prove to be rather unhealthy.

Now, he only had one thing to do before retreating to his room to enjoy some _quiet _time o himself.

He was to talk to Naruto about the Uchiha.

It was the first time he had been able to come to Konoha after the avenger's return, and he really needed to discuss some things with the blonde.

The Kazekage knew things could be confusing for Naruto right now. The blonde didn't know what was good for him, and the Uchiha certainly was not. He needed to convince Naruto to stay away from him or he'd get hurt again. Gaara didn't want Naruto to be hurt again. The blonde would always be cheerful when feeling down, but it was all an act. He was always in a deep state of depression and wouldn't show it if he didn't want anyone to notice.

Gaara had found out that Naruto whined loudly about insignificant issues, like low rank missions or if Ichiraku's was closed for the day and he was left without any ramen. But when things really mattered, he hid them. The redhead knew why. It opened you up, made you vulnerable and weak.

How to be strong if you were weak?

Gaara started walking towards Ichiraku's. Naruto was probably there, it was dinner time.

When arriving, he could see, as expected, Naruto sitting at the counter with a bowl of ramen in front of him and a stack of five bowls next to him. To his left, the Uchiha sat, elbow on the counter with his cheek resting in the open hand, just staring at Naruto. Observing, like an exasperated brother wanting to scold his little brother. Well, Gaara would be too. It wasn't good for Naruto to eat that much ramen in one sitting, it could – NO. Do not agree with Uchiha in any way. If the bloodline user said yes, he would say no.

Much like that Neji. If it bothered him when the older male did that, then the same technique would drive the Uchiha to the brink of insanity.

The Sharingan user noticed him, and turned his head slightly, and their eyes met. You could almost feel their hate clashing against each other in the space between them.

"Naruto." Sasuke said, poking him in the shoulder, and the blonde turned around, surprised.

"Gaara!" he shouted happily, abandoned his ramen and rose from his chair to come greet him.

"May I have a word with you?" he said in a collected tone.

Naruto blinked.

"In private?" he added, and mentally beat himself with a stick. Of course Naruto wouldn't understand if you didn't spell it out for him.

"Oh." Naruto said, looking torn. "Well… Yeah, I guess." He was too serious, there was something bothering him. "But not too long, my ramen'll get cold!" He said, grinning.

He grabbed Gaara by the elbow and started walking away from the little restaurant. "So, what do you wanna talk to me about?"

Gaara glanced at him.

He was actually really happy now, he wasn't putting on a show.

This was going to be troublesome.

"Naruto, you have to understand that I'm not out to destroy your life."

"No, I know that you like me." He grinned a foxy grin and elbowed him lightly, looking slightly perverted. "What do you mean by –"

"Uchiha is dangerous."

Immediately he seemed to darken, like this wasn't the first time.

"People keep saying that! Sasuke's not –"

Gaara had planned to be gentle, but how could he? Naruto was so goddamn blind!

"Naruto! He left four years ago, and you didn't believe he would then either! What's to stop him if he wants to leave now?"

The blonde didn't answer, only stared hard at the ground and his feet dragging along it. His fists were clenched and snow white.

"There's no guarantee that he'll stay! And what will happen with you then? You'll become obsessed, like last time! It's not healthy, Naruto! People keep telling you because they only want what's best for you, not to spite you! It's –"

"Why can't everybody accept that he's changed?! He's not going to run away, okay!"

Now the two of them were just standing and yelling at each other. Luckily, They had walked long enough to be out of the Uchiha's hearing range back at Ichiraku's.

"But his older brother is still out there! You don't know any–"

"I do, okay! I just do! I know that he'll stay!"

The blonde was red in his face, breathing heavily. The usually blue eyes were a swirling red with a sharp pupil, and the thin whiskers had thickened abruptly. The sharp teeth peeking out from his lips sold his rage out. Gaara was staring angrily at him, hands itching to take fighting stance and beat sense into his friend. Slowly, Naruto's face returned to its normal state and his appearance softened.

_Why can't you understand?!_

Naruto laced his arms around his neck and drew the Kazekage into a hug, said man stiffening with surprise.

"I'm sorry I'm yelling at you." He whispered into his ear. "I know you that you care. But I've lost count of how many people that have told me the exact same thing. I know what he's done, but I've noticed he's different than before." He sighed into his neck. "I know he has changed and I can take care of myself, okay?"

Gaara relaxed. What was he supposed to say?

He was released, and the whole event was swept under a metaphorical rug by the blonde. Naruto grinned and started running back towards the ramen bar. "Now you have to join me and the bastard for ramen!"

He didn't really listen, it was rather usual that Naruto said something which Gaara ignored and somehow the Kazekage would get roped into something he had no wish to participate in. Of course, he would have no choice.

He looked at the blonde jounin.

Yes, there was no denying it.

He was happy for real.

And Gaara wasn't able change anything at all.

_We've gone soft, haven't we, Gaara-sama?_

---

_Sabaku no Gaara vs. Uchiha Sasuke_

_0 – 1_

_Victor: Uchiha Sasuke_

_---_

---

_Sabaku no Gaara __vs. Haruno Sakura_

_0 - 0_

_Ready, steady, go._

---

"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear – "

Lee's birthday.

Gaara sighed. The whole absurdness of it all was ridiculous. His birthday had been three weeks ago, but this was the only time all sixteen of them were able to get together.

And, of course, all of them had to come to Suna, because Gaara wasn't able to leave. Not that he was even a bit surprised about the council's rejection; he knew they would do it to annoy him, but still.

It brought one good thing, at least.

It meant that Lee cared enough about him to go through all the trouble of getting here. That had to mean something, didn't it?

But why did the guards let something so disturbingly disgusting like Sakura enter Suna? She would just sit in the desert outside and wait. She could contaminate his village and God help her if she in some way got too close with one of his villagers. That would be her death, and it would be painful.

"There! Now, blow out the candles!" Tenten hollered happily and almost pressed Lee's face down into the white cake. Gaara mentally rolled his eyes. She was very childish, wasn't she?

After going through the normal things one do when having a birthday, the question 'What should we do now?' was asked. The sixteen teens went through several suggestions, some serious and less serious ones ("SEVEN MINUTES IN HEAVEN!"), and finally Shikamaru got tired of their arguing.

"Why don't we play hide and seek?"

"Whaaat? Shikamaruuuu, that's a child's game!" Naruto said enthusiastically, crossing his arms over his chest and pouting, looking stubborn.

"It's a shinobi game, Naruto. The whole point is to refine your skills." Shikamaru explained in a bored tone.

"HOKAGE! HO-KA-GE!" Naruto hollered, and somewhere in a fan art a chibi Naruto with shiny, starry eyes was standing with an ocean crashing behind him.

When the rest of the room gave Shikamaru a cold, questioning glare, he shook his head, silently telling them he had just said that to shut Naruto up, not to make the others take the game seriously.

"Alright!" Ino said loudly, intent on being the leader role. "Since its Lee's birthday, he doesn't have to be 'it'."

"What's 'it'?" Naruto said, an invisible question mark popping up over his head.

"The one searching, dumbass!" she said, irritated, hitting the blonde across his head.

"'It' has to be someone who knows all the good hiding spots, otherwise this'll take too much time. You can hide anywhere you want, except outside the village walls, okay?" She paused, thinking of rules to put down. "Go in pairs, it's no fun to be alone."

"But we're fifteen if one's 'it' – " Kiba pointed out weakly.

"Then be three in one group then!" She snapped at him, smirking. She certainly loved being in command, and it showed.

"And Naruto, don't use transformed kage bunshins to get other people caught."

A groan was heard, but also ignored.

As there were no objects that mattered, she turned to the Sand shinobis. "Which one…?"

Lee was smiling. He must be thinking how fun it could be. Gaara couldn't really stop himself.

"I can do it." Gaara and a perky voice said at the same time, and he located the opposition source. Sakura was standing, fiddling with the hem of her shirt, looking slightly embarrassed.

"I mean –" she said quietly. "If none of you…"

"I'll do it." Gaara said, and the authority in his tone made others not want to change anything.

After five minutes of grabbing a partner, Gaara sat down in a chair, waiting for people to get ready.

"Count to a hundred!" Naruto said, and grabbed Sasuke by the elbow, which immediately ripped his arm back. "Let's go!"

With that, they all disappeared in the blink of an eye.

Gaara didn't bother counting; he merely stared at the clock hanging on the wall in exactly one minute and fifty nine seconds before getting up. Games were troublesome.

He quickly mapped up a schedule for his searching. Naruto was an easy target, as were Kiba, Ten and Ino because they would probably not be able to be quiet. He had seen that Temari pairing up with Kankurou, and Chouji with Shikamaru. These would be B-rank to find, as would Sai, Sakura and Lee.

There were four of them that were going to be a bother to find.

The Byakugan users. They would spot him immediately if he wasn't extremely careful, and would use their agile bodies to move away from him in such a perfected manner that he wouldn't notice them. The perfect spies in every way.

Expect when faced with Gaara's sand jutsus. The sand itself had no body heat when there was no sun to shine on it, and as it was nighttime, it would be colder than ice. If he sent out small amounts of sand after using his own spying technique, the Third Eye, he could capture and immobilize them and then stroll right up and declare them found.

Even so, they wouldn't get caught easily.

Shino would also be troublesome to find. He would have bugs everywhere reporting Gaara's location and he had also been on the same team as a Byakugan user and had probably copied their way of getting away silently. However, his weakness was that his inability to keep track of all the million bugs at the same time made him very dependent of his informative bugs. If Gaara took the thin sheet of sand lying on the streets and made it shoot up, most bugs would be either killed by the small sand corn's impact or immobilized with exhaustion from avoiding all of it.

And the Sharingan user, Sasuke. The Sharingan spoke for itself about spying. Not that the former missing-nin was extra skilled in spying manually, but his competitive streak and loathing towards Gaara would make him hard to catch. Perhaps even harder than Neji. Both of them were boosted with hate towards him and wouldn't give up easily, even though it was all a game.

Sasuke had no obvious weakness, so he would have to wait until later.

For now, he would hunt easy kill.

He put a hand on his right eye, and whispered; "Daisan no Me."

An eye of sand was formed in the sky, taking in the village scenery.

Four people were easily spotted.

Kiba and Naruto sat in an alley, crouched over what looked like a dirty magazine, snickering.

Tenten and Ino was sitting on the roof of the Kazekage building, just above his head, whispering things to each other.

_Morons._

He made a sweeping motion with his left hand, sending clumps of sand in their direction. when reaching their destination, he made it spell out 'Found'. The girls didn't seem fazed. Kiba was too absorbed in the magazine, but Naruto looked up at the swooshing noise.

"CHEATER! IF I CAN'T USE KAGE BUNSHIN YOU CAN'T USE SAND! **CHEATER**!"

Kiba must've jumped at least five foot with surprise, whacking Naruto in his head with an echoing slap. "Dude, you almost gave me a heart attack!"

"BE QUIET, NARUTO-BAKA! YOU'RE WAKING THE ENTIRE VILLAGE!" Ino yelled from the roof top, throwing at rock at him which hit in the back of his head, sending him crashing into the stone wall. Naruto was certainly the center of pain right now.

_Idiots…_

Now, onto the next easy kill.

Sai, Sakura and Lee, which had paired up to become the trio group. Sakura and Lee.

His heart beat a little faster. If Sai decided to hide alone, there would be just the two of them. Maybe they were hiding in a narrow alley like Kiba and Naruto. Maybe they were pushed up against each other, and maybe an accident would occur, a light brush, lips to cheek, and…

_Run or we will die and drive you insane when haunting you in your dreams. We wouldn't want that, would we, Gaara-chan?_

No, Gaara didn't want that. In fact, he would kill himself if that happened.

He jumped out of the window and landed silently on the ground, making his chakra reach out and search for a presence of three. He quickly found one. Lee was the only one unable to cloak his chakra signature, and was therefore rather easy to find, but even harder to catch.

After walking along the main street for two minutes and thirteen seconds he sensed the strong chakra in an alleyway five meters in front of him and to the left.

Gaara dressed himself in a thin sheen of sand, completely masking his tattle-tale chakra.

He allowed himself a menacing grin.

That bitch was in for the scare of a lifetime. And it was going to be _good_.

He slowly walked up the vertical wall, and when he got up, he sent two flying clumps of sand the size of a foot out to hang over their heads. The redhead could see them now, sitting together and chatting quietly, almost inaudible.

He swiftly jumped to stand on top of the two sand clumps. Then they slowly rotated, making him hang upside down above them like an ominous spider. He made a curt motion with his wrist and slowly, slowly he started to move downwards. If any of them looked up, they would see him. But none of them did, too engaged in their almost silent discussion.

He was just behind her now, staring straight into her god-awful hair.

Gaara felt an orgasmic wave of pleasure shoot through him when he reached out and poked her in between her shoulder blades.

"Boo."

---

_Sabaku no Gaara __vs. Haruno Sakura_

_2__ - 0_

_Victor: Sabaku no Gaara._

---

(1) I just feel the need to tell you that everything written in chapter's are GAARA's thoughts upon things. In case you believed something else. Because Gaara's being a very weird little man in this story.

(2) Daisuke, duh.

**A/N**: Haha, I finally finished it! This was hard to write, so tell me if it was fun to read. ;) Revieeeew meeeee! XD


	10. The day before chaos

**A/N**: Here it is. Worship me. (Not really, you can throw rocks at me because it's so late.)

**Disclaimer**:** (Do I own it?) **Well, no. It makes me want to kill myself.

**Warnings**: Strong language, slight angst, slight violence, **NOTE FOR PEOPLE WHO HAVE READ UP TILL CHAPTER 364. IF YOU HAVEN'T, IGNORE THIS (DON'T READ IT, 364 SPOILER)**;_I know that Deidara is dead, and that Tobi is actually Uchiha Madara, but I'm going to let them be alive-Deidara and idiot-Tobi. And Konan and Pain will be referred to as 'Leader' and 'Blue'. Don't like it, tough. _

**Notice**: I will label the unknown member and the Leader 'Blue' and 'Leader', so that people won't have to stop reading because I'll spoil things for them. You who know their names will just have to bear with it.

**Notice II**: This is just a chapter to prolong your suffering until the actual twist will occur. :) I'm pure evil and I'm God. And also, because I really think I've accidentally made all the characters so perfect and flawless, but that's not the case, is it?

* * *

He studied the green scenery. It was strange to be back at Konoha again. 

Itachi never complained about anything. He never really felt anything for anyone or anything. Even so, he couldn't deny the rising feeling in his gut, eating away at him.

He didn't want to be here.

He wanted to run far away.

He felt weak.

The one place in the world that made him feel weak and sick.

Itachi hated this goddamned place. He wanted to burn it all to the ground and sent the dust to another dimension. It wasn't the place he hated. It was what is held.

He hated this place.

But he couldn't leave.

Because the Akatsuki and its purpose was to be fulfilled tomorrow night.

And, for once in a lifetime, the entire Akatsuki was gathered together.

Deidara was standing with Tobi hanging off his shoulder, looking ready to blast the shorter male into oblivion with some explosive clay. Tobi was just shining with curiosity, and Itachi could easily tell how much he wanted to just rush into the village and take a look around, like a little kid.

_Get off me, you worthless little brat!_

_Senpai, when will we go? When will we go? When will we go?!_

_STOP!_

_But… Tobi is a good boy! Good! Good boy!_

Zetsu was standing, debating silently with himself about an unknown matter. He looked, as usual, like a plant.

_Do you think the Jinchuuriki will go for it? Perhaps, it is all a matter of how strong his feelings are.__ Well, I think he will. I don't. Well, don't believe it then. I am. Well, fine. Great._

Kisame was leaning on his enormous sword, shark-like face clothed with an expression of utmost boredom. He was excited, but all this waiting made him impatient and unfocused.

_Let's go already._

Blue was staring straight at the village. Not quite at it though, Itachi noticed, it just happened to be where her gaze was directed. She had always been a little detached from reality, so it didn't surprise him she was in this state. The state where the world was more than one and one person had several alter egos. A state where she lingered between alternative universes.

_Tomorrow… the will of God will be executed._

She could slip into a trance like that when she was excited.

And the Leader was standing behind them, in the shadow. The moonlight shone on his red hair which the shadows couldn't mask.

_Tomorrow._

Tomorrow night the trap would be laid.

Tomorrow their goal would be a step closer to being achieved.

And for once, Itachi felt like a child.

He wanted to run away and hide.

It didn't show.

But he still felt it.

The same thought kept going through his mind.

What will happen to him?

_What will happen to him?_

* * *

"Let me go there." 

"No."

"Send me there."

"No."

"It's not a question."

"Nor a wish I will grant."

"Why can't you?!"

"Because I can't."

"No, you just don't want to!"

"To a certain percentage, yes."

"You can't make decisions based on your personal feelings!"

"You cannot make demands based on your personal feelings either."

"But why are you like this?! Normally you wouldn't make such a big deal out of it!"

"But I am now. As you must know Suna is short on shinobi and even if we weren't I would not allow you to leave for Konoha at present time."

"Why are you doing this?! Why are you – ?!"

"This is the end of this discussion. Leave."

* * *

"Maa, troublesome woman." 

Temari grinned and grabbed her husband's hand. Her pregnancy had made her extra excited. Even though she knew her hormones had yet to start going haywire, she felt so incredibly sped up and happy. Of course, she was to enter her third month very soon. And, to her extreme happiness, she had figured out she didn't feel nauseous morning time at all. It was replaced with cravings, and she had Shikamaru running errands for her.

She didn't really have to do anything at all.

Until the actual birth, but that was another six months away. So that was unnecessary to discuss yet.

She had a lot of free time now. There were no missions to fill her time, and that had pretty much been her life before engaging Shikamaru into her life. So, she had a lot of time. She had been very social during her stay here.

She had spent several days with her girlfriends, going out and looking at cute guys even though she was married. Not that she'd ever even think twice if she was presented with an opportunity to cheat. No way in hell.

But of course, it was always fun to pretend, to leave Shikamaru hanging.

He actually got a little nervous!

It was so fun to see him a little shaky.

She always comforted him afterwards, though. He was so fragile, the little cry-baby.

Today, she had craving for ice cream.

Strawberry ice cream.

She had told Shikamaru to get it, but of course he had bought the wrong kind. It was strawberry flavour, but the ice cream texture displeased her, so she needed so go buy it herself to get the right kind. And dragged Shikamaru along with her. Why go alone when you could have someone with you?

"Well, you wouldn't have to do it again if you had gotten it right the first time." She said in a mock-scolding tone when he protested.

"That sounds like it has something to do with sex." Shikamaru said with a sigh.

"Why? Feeling insecure?" Temari snickered.

"You're pregnant. I must be up the right alley at least."

"If you're so displeased about where sex has taken you then maybe we should just stop having sex." she said in a mocking tone and marched ahead of him, head ridiculously high and arms crossed over her chest.

"Oi! Let's not get ahead of ourselves!"

Temari laughed and started running ahead.

* * *

Gaara was soon going to go into a state of total rage. 

A state of bloodlust, pain, torture and death.

Like the fits he used to have when he was a child.

During these fits which could last for hours, he had killed people.

Just because their blood on his hands and skin made them succumb to him, they gave into him, his opinion was the right one and nothing was changing that once the challenging voice was silenced, Gaara was once again the wise one. They sated his bloodlust.

Their blood on his hands made his feel superior and less vulnerable.

They had agreed to what he said, because they hadn't been strong enough to defend their opinions.

Therefore, what Gaara said was right.

He had killed them because they hadn't understood his words were the correct ones to believe in.

Soon, Gaara was going to have one of these attacks.

Because his brother wouldn't understand what Gaara was telling him.

Kankurou didn't understand him.

Kankurou didn't fucking understand why Gaara couldn't send him to Konoha even for a week.

The mere existence, the ridiculous _idiotic_ aura of Kankurou drove him insane.

Why couldn't Kankurou understand what Gaara was saying?!

"Gaara, you're being so unreasonable! I only need to be there for five minutes, and then I'll return home! I need to sort some things out! I need to go there!"

"No." Gaara answered calmly, fingering on his pencil, pondering on which way he was going to sign the document. He had to think about other things, because underneath his collected appearance fury was swirling around inside him, rolling in waves around his heart, forcing his pulse and heartbeat to go faster and faster. His head was swimming with different thoughts, and it was all too hazy to make out anything but images. Someone getting ripped apart over and over again. His brother getting ripped apart over and over again. It felt as if his chest would explode.

Gaara wanted to scream and do… something! Not just sit and do nothing!

He wanted to silence Kankurou.

This was for his own good, and nothing else.

Gaara wasn't trying to make him angry.

Gaara wasn't trying to make him sad.

He wasn't trying to ruin whatever spirit Kankurou had left.

But he was faced with no choice.

His brother was tearing himself apart with this one-sided romance and God help him if Gaara was just going to sit back and watch it happen.

Why did he care?

He didn't know.

He just knew that it hurt him each time he saw his older brother get torn down.

Why allow him to get torn down?

It was all logic and common sense.

**So why couldn't Kankurou understand?!**

Kankurou yelled out in rage and waved his arms around. Gaara knew that gesture. His brother wanted to hit something, badly, but restrained himself.

The Kazekage bit his tongue hard enough to make it bleed.

It was good enough.

The bloodlust inside him stilled a little, but not his anger.

Kankurou was so stupid and stupidity annoyed Gaara to the extent bordering to a severe disorder. In other words, stupid people sent him over the edge.

"_I need to be there!_"

"But you are not going to. Please leave."

"No, I won't leave! I'm not leaving until – no, I'll leave right now. I don't fucking care what you say and –"

Kankurou cut himself short, started marching towards the door and was just at the doorstep when the whole exit was blocked with a thick barrier of sand. A thin sheet of chakra started to pour from the older man's pores and covered him in a blue glow. He was on the verge of a furious outburst, and a powerful one at that. This was turning into was could promise to be a really, _really _troublesome situation.

"FUCK YOU!" Kankurou hollered and stomped towards him in a rapid pace, and the blue glow strengthened. "YOU WILL LET ME LEAVE AND YOU WILL DO IT **NOW**!"

Kankurou's anger and desperation made him irrational and forgetful. Irrational because he had absolutely no way of forcing Gaara to let him leave, and forgetful because he forgot how horrifying it could be if _that _part of Gaara was awakened. These two factors combined equaled something beyond chaos. One should never even approach that combination or try anything that might lead to that reaction. Bad things could happen.

And it did happened.

Gaara snapped.

The redhead flew forward in a movement invisible to the untrained eye.

A deafening crack was heard, followed by the loud sound of flesh hitting stone.

Gaara stood, panting in rage, fist high with a red, sticky liquid dripping down from it. His brother was splashed out over the stone wall, a bloody fist-print clothing his already painted face. The Kazekage's eyes were still green, but a different green. Fury, anger, rage, madness, craze, wrath, bloodlust and everything aggressive in this language coated their stares directed towards his brother. Cracks ran along the wall in every direction. The force of the blow had knocked Kankurou out cold even before he had hit the wall. A fraction to his skull would certainly be likely. His right shoulder poked up in an unnatural angle implying that it had been dislocated from its joint. A thin sheen or blood was visible behind his head and elbow, the skin must've been broken by the sheer power of the impact.

The Kazekage could feel himself splitting into two.

The first one wanted to carve that moronic gut out of his body and spit on the corpse.

The second one wanted to cry because of what he had just done.

_We hurt him! God, we hit him! Is he okay? _

_He fucking deserved it! If he was so goddamn stupid to actually believe he could do something about the Hyuuga heir and her little dog hooking up, then he fucking deserved it! We just wanna smash him into bits! GODDAMNED IDIOT! WHY THE FUCK WOULD WE LET HIM GO THERE?! ONE REASON! NAME __**ONE**__! FUCKING M-M-MORON! HE N-N-NEEDED THAT! FUCKING IDIO-O-OT!_

Gaara just stared for a minute.

Something wet slipped down his cheek from the corner of his eye, but he didn't even notice it.

The young male had floated into a state where he flew out of his own body and looked down on the scene below him. It was horrifying.

_Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God, oh my God, oh my God, oh my God, oh my God, oh my God, OH MY GOD!_

In the blink of an eye he was back into his own body, and he didn't like it. His limbs felt heavy with regret and something else he couldn't name. Panic, perhaps. He rushed forward and checked his pulse. Beating steadily still. The redhead let out a breath he didn't know he had been holding.

What if he had killed him?

What if he had killed his own brother?

And it hadn't been accidental either.

He had aimed the punch and landed it perfectly.

What in the name of fucking hell would've happened if he had killed his own brother?!

_So what? One human more or less. Please don't say that! He could've just died. Stop it! Who cares about people? STOP IT!_

He wiped with bloody hand on his robe and summoned a bandage which came swishing from a Band-Aid box from the bathroom. Crouching down, he tipped his brother's head forward, peering into the brown clump or hair in search for the wound that had left a stain of blood on the sand-white wall. Close to the neck there was a bump, and Gaara could only assume the injury was centered there.

After fifteen minutes of wrapping his brother's head with the bandage, making him look like a mummy, he grabbed hold of the shoulder and the accompanying elbow, which he had also dressed with bandage. He closed his eyes, turned his head away and grimaced as he heard a sloppy '_snap!_' as he popped it back into place. This was so disgusting.

How could people be alive with this much blood inside them?

They should burst or drown in it.

It was sick.

Gaara felt a _huge_ objection towards blood at the moment.

He felt bilge rise at the back of his throat and he had to move over to the window and seep some cold air into his lungs, soothing his jumpy system and nerves.

A groan was heard, and Gaara turned around.

Kankurou blinked hazily with the one eye that wasn't covered in bandage and hissed in pain when he moved to turn his upper body.

And since he was stupid, he tried to get up too.

It didn't work.

"SON OF A… MOTHERFUCKING – ARGH!"

Kankurou gave Gaara the evil eye.

Gaara stared back, indifferent on the outside and scared to death on the inside.

The older brother sighed, and tried to cross his arms, but failed. He muttered something that Gaara couldn't catch, and he asked the puppet-master to repeat it.

"I said it's not cool to punch your brother." Gaara frowned. He already knew that. But if Kankurou hadn't – God. This was frustrating and nerve-racking. "… But I guess you are so fucked up this is your little abnormal way of showing that you care, right?"

Kankurou gave him a light grin, and Gaara felt himself loosen up. Knotted muscles were released and a barrier inside his mind was blown right out. Maybe he wasn't so stupid after all.

He had understood, after all.

Gaara hooked his elbow with Kankurou's uninjured one and pulled him to his feet. Thankfully, thighs, knees, shins, ankles and feet were undamaged and those were the things that really mattered when being a puppet-master, meaning you have to run away fast if your dolly is defeated.

The older one winced.

"Not so hard next time, though."

Gaara ignored him but made a mental note in the back of his head to next time if there ever was to be one to take Kankurou's advice and continued walking, directing his steps towards the hospital wing in the Kazekage building, which Kankurou had already visited recently because of a fatal blow to the stomach.

Hopefully, there wouldn't be a next time.

"Don't yank me like that! I know where we're going."

_... Stupid moron._

* * *

"I guess it's time for you to get appointed, is it? The council have all agreed, and you have proven worthy in combat and learning the village's rulebook." 

"That's awfully official, baa-chan."

"Don't call me that, brat!"

Naruto grinned.

Tsunade sighed.

Maybe he had memorized all the rules (or cheated in some way, that was more likely…) and granted, he was undeniably an extremely skilled shinobi, but he was still so immature.

Although, he had grown from that annoying little brat she had first met with Jiraiya who wouldn't stop ranting about becoming Hokage, and how she had thought he was nothing but big talk. Then he had proved to be a very promising child, although the promise wasn't that obvious. It was more like obscured and almost invisible, but it was there.

"So?"

She leaned her face into her palms.

Obnoxious little brat.

"So what?" she said, grouchy. She had to work all day and couldn't take one single nap because of Shizune constantly guarding her like a hawk.

"So, when will I be Ho –"

"The ceremony is tomorrow. Now leave me alone."

A loud victor-holler echoed throughout the corridors in the Hokage-building.

"I'm gonna be the best Hokage there ever was!" Naruto said, smiling so much Tsunade felt a little curious of how much more until his face would burst. The blonde launched himself at her to envelope her in a hug, and she dove out of her chair just in time, resulting in the male's crash into the now empty chair.

"Yeah, that's great. Leave."

Pouting, the younger man childishly stuck his tongue out at her and stalked out of the office, and grinned like a maniac when he turned his back to her, thinking she couldn't see.

She watched him walk out.

Anyone would say she looked annoyed and at the end of her rope.

But her eyes shone with pride and tears.

The dreams of all her loved ones were going to be safe with Naruto.

The village and all its villagers would be safe with that little idiot.

Even if he just was a little academy dropout failure.

* * *

**A/N**: I don't like it, but it was necessary. What do ya think? Review and tell me? Pwetty pwlease? 


	11. Superiority complex A new Hokage is born

**A/N**: I. FUCKING. HATE. THIS. CHAPTER, that's why it took so long. Please continue.

**Disclaimer**:If you wish to PM about complains concerning OOC, rethink it, because I own Naruto, so they're my characters. (Gets shot)

**Warnings**: Strong language, slight angst, slight violence.

* * *

Gaara wanted to hush the obnoxious girl standing in front of him, laughing and yelling, hopping up and down. Yes, the event was exciting. But not that exciting. Stupid child. Of course, today was something special. Uzumaki Naruto, academy dropout, failure, loudmouth extraordinaire and his fellow Biju-host was to become Hokage this day. Gaara wished the ceremony (Ceremony? Moments of acceptance from the villagers was more truthful) would end. He didn't want to observe Naruto from a distance. He wanted to talk to him!

Maybe one last talk concerning the Uchiha.

Or not.

But probably.

Or not.

But yes, probably.

"Gaara-sama, look!" Lee pointed excitedly as Naruto walked into view above them all, jumping slightly up and down with a firm grip on Gaara's left arm. "There he is!"

"Yes, Lee, I see him."

"He is right _there!_" Lee said over-excitedly and continued to jump up and down, making people around them back away. Gaara furrowed his brows, getting a little annoyed. The brunette pointed enthusiastically to emphasize his point.

"Yes, Lee, I know."

"He is _right there!_"

"I can see that." Gaara answered, growing tired. The excessive shaking of his arm was starting to spread, and he was almost swinging from side to side now.

"_He is right –"_

Gaara nailed Lee with a murderous expression.

"_I. Get it. Okay?_"

Lee stopped jumping and hunched over, staring down onto the ground, like a child after a scolding. Gaara wanted to roll his eyes. He was even worse than that kid in front. The redhead pushed Lee's face up to watch the ceremony with his hand, not wanting him to be sad. The whole thing was rather absurd anyway. I mean, the villagers already counted Naruto as the Hokage, and had done so for a while. What was the meaning of this then?

Technicalities.

That was all there was to it. There was no real purpose, no hidden meaning, only something to attract attention. In this case, to announce to the world that the almost almighty Uzumaki had finally managed to memorize the law book and proved that he wasn't such a bumbling knucklehead. Not that the majority of people believed that, but some people still did.

Gaara couldn't wait for it to be over.

He really needed to talk to Naruto.

Half an hour later, he had lost all need to talk to Naruto. He just didn't feel like bringing him down right now. The blonde couldn't seem to stop grinning. It was actually kind of frightening, one would think he had fishhooks in the corners of his mouth, keeping them were they were. He was walking around, talking with random people who would come up and congratulate him, scold him for taking so long to read the laws, talk about memories or make jokes about what he had to do to become where he was, like a shameful bet.

Lee had been raging on about the utmost height of youth, squeezing Naruto so hard Gaara hard trouble believing his spine hadn't snapped.

He saw Tenten, Temari, Shikamaru, Hinata, Shino, Chouji and Ino congratulate him with a group hug. Sakura, Neji and Kiba had scolded him for being a dumbass, and Sai had made an obscene penis joke which had earned him a smack from several ninjas including people who had never even spoken to him. Iruka had talked about his academy days and Kakashi had mocked him.

The Kazekage noticed the Uchiha heir was nowhere to be found, and he hadn't been sighted during the ceremony either. Hadn't he been there at all? That would be really awkward, seeing as Gaara had seen them a week ago in the Ramen stall, and asked Naruto about it the moment he arrived. It hadn't been a one time thing.

That was fucking awful, according to him.

_We will die if we don't leave. Too many people! Suffocation!_

"Let's go." Gaara said, appearing to be speaking to thin air, when he was really directing the command towards his lover.

"What? But no, I want to stay and enjoy the celebration of Naruto's youth and beauty! We must shower him in our youthful appreciation and – !" Lee spluttered until a thick clump of sand forced its way into his mouth, effectively shutting him up. He tried spitting small clumps of it out, but new would replace it, making it impossible for him to get rid of. Not that this would stop the ever so stubborn Green Beast, who continued his battle against the sand.

_Thank God, silence._

"We're leaving." Gaara said coldly, eyes fixated on an opening in the crowd of people, which seemed to lead to an empty, rather large street. He started walking, trusting his loyal little man to follow him. Which he did.

Lee walked behind him like an obedient puppy. "The sand in my mouth…" he mumbled, down-cast.

"What do you wish to do?" Gaara asked once they left the celebration area, leaving them all alone on the street, wind blowing gently.

Lee's eyes lit up at the thought of the many youthful, beautiful things one could do in the springtime of one's youth. "Spar!"

"No." Gaara said and glared at him, leaning back on the stone wall behind him. It made the almost five centimeter shorter male look like he was staring down on the taijutsu master. The brunette darkened for a second, then once again shone with excitement.

"Train!"

"No."

"Go back and congratulate Naruto _again_!"

"No."

"Have a youthful training session with my wonderful mentor Gai-sensei!"

"_No_."

"Go to the onsen!"

"No."

Lee looked clueless, which he should be. What more could one do? He started saying random activities, thinking one of them must fit the redhead Kazekage. One would have to congratulate Lee on his creative thinking because of the wide selection of activities he spewed over the unwilling man.

"Flower arranging!"

"No."

"Shougi!"

"No."

"Dancing!"

"No."

"Fan dancing!"

"No."

"Manicure!"

"No."

"Cooking class!"

"No."

"Hiking!"

"No."

"Rock-climbing!"

"No."

"Karaoke!"

"No."

"Gai-sensei mi–"

"NO."

"Then what do you want to do, Gaara-sama?" Lee asked, voice slightly whiny, from his puddle on the ground which he had slipped into when realizing his partner had no desire to cooperate or spend any time in any vicinity closer than a hundred miles to Gai-sensei. How could one _not _wish to spend time with Gai-sensei? He is the most youthful –

"Nothing." Gaara answered, monotone, yet there was a certain glint in his eyes telling Lee to take a hint. After a few moments, Gaara was just plain staring at Lee, mentally beating him for not picking up on his way of thinkning.

Lee blinked.

"Then what is the point of you asking me to do something if you really wish to do nothing?"

Gaara wanted to smack his head into the wall repeatedly. Or perhaps Lee's head. Yes, his head would do to smack into a wall. Unfortunately, Gaara had a tendency to take things too far, so he'd probably end up sending the shinobi into a comatose and he had no real use for a Lee in a coma as he would be boring in such a state. He gave Lee a glance, and said man continued to look clueless and rather childish. Why were things so hard?

"What is mean is… We don't have to do anything."

Lee furrowed his brow, "What is the point of doing nothing?"

Gaara collected his calm and started trying to make his explanation sound normal. "The definition of… nothing… doesn't always have to be… nothing… sometimes… nothing… can be something… or nothing… of no real significance…" Gaara fidgeted under an imaginary stare. Life was just too complicated. Gaara wanted things to be simple.

On the other hand, some people were too simple, so simple they turn so annoying they should be killed off. Oh, the agony of choices.

If life had been a cartoon, a huge, no, gigantic light bulb would have been lit above Lee's head. Lee smiled goofily and pinched Gaara's cheek lovingly. The younger male smacked the hand away, blushing lightly. That comic would have been fun to read.

"Let us go then!"

And with that, Lee started running off towards the horizon which had mysteriously changed from midday to sundown.

* * *

Itachi moved closer and closer to his furious little brother who had yet to notice him.

He wanted to scream out, alert him in some way, but he wasn't permitted to. He had been ordered not to.

Wasn't Sasuke more vigilant than this?

He had an enemy sneaking up on him and yet he still merely continued to rain down punches on the log in front of him, staining it with his own blood and his knuckles with purple-red bruises.

He tried to tell himself what Blue always would chant.

Today the will of God would be executed.

But it didn't ease him at all.

His heart still clenched hard around something sharp and vile in his chest, hurting. A monster, perhaps?

He forced his Mangekyo sharingan out.

Capture, in progress.

His monster growled in thirst for violent satisfaction.

Itachi bit his lip in hesitation, thank God he was alone, and raced forward.

* * *

Gaara shifted on his chair.

How had Lee managed to wheedle him into such a childish game like 'Who would you rather'? Gaara couldn't remember. He would think he would have refused, but here he was, getting questions about who he would rather kiss. It was fairly embarrassing.

Oh well. At least he got to ask questions too.

"This is stupid, why should I ask you anything that I do not wish to know of?" Gaara sighed, and took a strained sip of his coffee. This was ridiculous.

Lee answered with an excited smile, almost blinding him. "Because, Gaara-sama! There is so much simple pleasure for so little effort when enjoying one another's company and celebrating our youth with games!" He leaned forward and slapped a hand on the younger male's shoulder. "Do you not find life more pleasurable when happy?"

The brunette received a blank stare, and he sighed.

"Why can you not try to look at this more positively? Life is not dull at this point of youth."

He received yet another blank stare.

"I will go first, and perhaps you will get some spirit when seeing how the game is played then." Lee made a thoughtful face, staring at the ceiling as if it would whisper him a secret. "Neji or Tenten?"

If the redhead had had any eyebrows, they surely would have shot up far up above his hairline, and he snorted. This was so childish and without any point at all. Stupid Lee. "Why should I answer?"

"Why should you not answer?" Lee countered, eyes glittering with mischief. Gaara sighed.

"Because there is no purpose." he mumbled into his coffee cup.

"Then what purpose do you need to do things?"

Gaara couldn't answer. How could he? It was a very philosophical question and without an answer. "Tenten then I suppose." he grumbled in a very brooding fashion, swallowing the last of his coffee.

Lee grinned lightly. "I guess I did already know you dislike Neji-san, though I have to admit I do not know why." Another sip of the green leaf tea. "Perhaps there is the alikeness in your personalities that makes you clash so badly."

Gaara scowled and stared hard at his companion, saying stubbornly like any other mature adult would do, "I am nothing like him."

"Yes you are." Lee chuckled and fingered at something by the hem of his jacket. "Your stiff way of walking and the same superior way of talking, and not to mention your less than optimistic attitude."

Gaara felt insulted. He was nothing like that spoiled, whiny bloodline brat. Actually, how dare he even compare the two of them? Hyuuga was beneath him in every single _decent _way! The indecent ways were absurdly atrocious to discuss, even to brush upon in a conversation. It would result in the end of the world. Therefore, the wisest decision would be to stay clear of it. Amen.

"But…" Gaara stumbled with his words. "But no! Just no!"

Lee looked surprised. It wasn't every day Gaara used a tone that could be followed with an exclamation point. "What do you mean 'no', Gaara-sama?"

"I am nothing like him." he repeated stonily, staring down his empty cup of coffee. Should he get another cup? Perhaps he would. It would benefit him in different ways. One, he would have something to drink, two, it looked cool, and three, it looked cool. The cons were that too much caffeine made him feel slightly lightheaded. Maybe lightheaded wasn't the right word. Happy, could be more fitting, it was really a point of opinion if one were to –

"Gaara-sama?"

Gaara blinked.

"Are you back here on Earth again?"

Gaara brushed some imaginary dust off of his sleeve. "You are not dignified with an answer."

Lee grinned a grin rivaling Naruto's, only this one was cuter. That was his opinion anyway, and he was quite glad knowing that almost every single alive human would disagree, as he was a very jealous person. "Well then. Sakura-chan or –"

Gaara dumped some money on the table and started walking out the coffee shop. "I'm leaving." He announced, quite unnecessarily, not looking back. Lee also stood up and started following him.

Good dog.

"But Gaara-sama! Do not – "

"No."

"But I must say – "

"No."

"There is – "

"No. Be quiet."

"Gaara-sama – "

"No."

"The possibilities – "

"No."

"– of you encountering – "

"No. Silence."

"– such a situation – "

"No. I said no."

" – it is always good to be prepared. That is what Gai-sensei says!"

Gaara broke into a run. A dignified, and graceful one at that, if he was allowed to add his voice among the others. He was not fleeing at the mere mention of Gai. Not. Nuh-uh.

_Yeah. Yeah. We know._

* * *

Sasuke let his fists rain down on the tree in front of him.

Why?

Why was he _so goddamned weak?!_

Even Naruto was stronger than him. Naruto! A dead last, good for nothing, moronic, brainless, loudmouth, idiotic loser! Blood trickled down his fists and dripped down onto the already red grass below them. He had been there since early morning, and now it was sundown.

He had not moved from this spot from that point. Restlessly kicking and punching the tree in front of him had been his only activity this day.

He had not gone to see his boyfriend's acceptance ceremony, and he hadn't even stayed in the same room with him when he had woken up. The mere sight of him reminded him of his own imperfection and weakness. The sickness.

Sasuke was sick. Sick with weakness and incapability to do something about it.

Mother.

Father.

Hot tears spilled down his already red cheeks and he sunk down on the ground, leaning his head back on the stained trunk of the large oak tree. The leaves swung gently with the serene melody the wind provided, and Sasuke calmed down somewhat. He knew this would all go away when he woke up tomorrow, and he would he happy again. There would be no staying in depression this time.

Something flashed between the trees.

Sasuke reacted in a fraction of a second, jumping to his feet and armed with a set up kunai ready to be thrown recklessly away (because they would, Sasuke had absolutely no intention of being nice to whomever was closing up on him). His eyes shone red and his (IMPERFECT, INFECTED) sharingan clarified the dark shadows. But nothing seemed to be there.

He relaxed after scanning the vicinity for another chakra. When that proved worthless, he sunk to the ground again, and stared at the other trees fifteen meters in front of him. His eyes widened.

The forest was burning.

Suddenly, flames had engulfed the entire forest. Even the tree behind him had caught fire, rapidly running down the trunk at his back. Jumping away from it, he frantically searched for the reason he was stranded in the middle of a sea of fire. He could find nothing.

A large tree creaked, and started falling down towards him. Sasuke quickly got himself out of the way with an acrobatic spin, closing his eyes because of the heat. When he opened them, the terrain had changed. He was standing in an old house, and he knew exactly what house.

His childhood home.

Red flames licked the house's insides and the Uchiha fan on each wall was slowly being eated away.

_Itachi._

Sasuke screamed out in frustration hen he found that his tries to break the obvious genjutsu he was caught in didn't work. He stared at his hands. They were shrinking, and blood disappeared to be replaced with band-aids and some sort of salve. He recognized the faint lemon scent. Mother's special salve.

His entire body was shrinking.

A seven year old Sasuke stood still in the flaming house. He did nothing to stop a large chunk of wood from the roof from collapsing down on him, sending into unconsciousness. He was too lost in thought. His mind was so much calmer than reality, or illusion, right now anyway.

Why was he always the weakest one?

Why was he weak?

_Why was he weaker than everyone?_

Poor Sasuke.

Sick little Sasuke.

* * *

"Uchiha is missing." Shizune informed the new Hokage of Konoha.

* * *

**A/N**: Yes, I get to terrorize a character in many different ways! W00t! Sasuke deserves it; he's being such an asshole in the manga lately. Review and tell me your opinion of this chapter, and you'll have a cookie in order for you. 


	12. Turmoil

**A/N**: Sorry for the lateness, but I've noticed the chapters have started shrinking and it bothers me indescribably, so I want it to at least break the 4000 word count. And sorry for drifting away from the GaaLee in this chapter, but you will see that the other stuff that doesn't seem relevant is really important for Lee's and Gaara's future, so I hope it doesn't bother you.

**Disclaimer**: No, not yet. Damn.

**Warnings**: The usual, you know.

* * *

The sun rose, and another day had passed.

Gaara sat in an emergence council meeting in the Kazekage building. The situation he was in could not be worse. The Gods were punishing him for something, he just knew it. There was just no way this was all a coincidence. Someone was out to get him, ripping him from his sanity piece by piece. He was tearing himself between something he couldn't label, but really cherished, and his duties to Suna.

Akatsuki was back in action after lying dormant for three serene years, and apparently, there were more members than accounted for. Five more of them than expected. In other words, the odds of anyone sent out to battle coming back victorious, even alive was lessened drastically.

He scanned through the paper sent from Konoha in his hand again, feeling of discomfort growing indefinitely with each word. The document declared that Uchiha Sasuke had been abducted from a training session in woods by his older brother Uchiha Itachi, and that he hadn't been conscious when taken away. Demands had been made, and they were simple as that.

"We want an easier way to execute the will of God", was the exact answer a girl with an origami flower behind her ear had said in a numb, dead tone, as she was described in the file. That was a less brutal and more inviting way of saying that they wanted Naruto to go willingly, and that there would be no attempt to try to retrieve him. So that the will of their imaginary God in a lunatic dress could have his childish wishes fulfilled. Gaara bit down on his lip, enraged. There was no easy way to solve anything.

The redhead had trouble believing that was possible. Naruto was the Hokage now. Had been for only one day, but Hokage nevertheless, and the Hokage could never leave the village for personal reasons like this one. The council would never allow it because the whole lot of them was dead inside, Gaara thought morbidly.

Naruto would not be allowed to go.

Thus, the Uchiha would die at their hands, and both of the parties would lose everything. Naruto would break, the Konoha village would fall and Gaara would be left without his best friend.

One of the many hypotheses.

Another was that they send out nearly every ninja the Leaf village could muster, and they would need every single ninja to even come close to overpowering them, even less chance of getting the Sharingan brat out of their grasp unharmed. The situation was a no-go from the beginning. Because if that village emptied their resources, Naruto would be left almost alone in the village. If that was the case, the Akatsuki would dispatch one, two or even three members to go fetch the blond Hokage, and Naruto would inevitably be dragged along with them.

A no-go, obviously, as the largest number of ninjas would be killed in this attempt.

So how to go about it? Leave the Uchiha to die? Not likely, Naruto would kill himself before that happened. Perhaps they could make some sort of trap out of activating the Akatsuki trap, like an ambush. But once again, that would require a huge amount of ninjas, an amount that village couldn't give away. And even so, the number of them staying behind wouldn't survive if the Biju-hunting organization decided to trick them, attacking and obliterating the entire village while the stronger ninjas were positioned around Naruto who would be somewhere too far away to do anything about his precious village being terminated. Either way, Naruto would lose something if trying to retrieve the Uchiha.

It was a tricky situation.

Gaara shifted in his chair.

The oldest council member was at the stand, talking about something, Gaara didn't really listen because it was either 1) something he already was aware of, 2) something the council wanted to blame him for or 3) indirectly denying him anything political he might have to say. It was really bothersome.

The redhead shifted again. Damn, these chairs were uncomfortable. Was he supposed to sit like this for much longer? His butt would be rendered completely numb and useless for days! These chairs were so annoying! If he could just smash them, break them into a million tiny pieces, shattering into small insignificant fractions, hopefully hitting one of the ghastly old people in the room. If he was real lucky, they would perhaps disable them for life. But Gaara knew not to have such high expectations.

" – What is your opinion of this, Kazekage-sama?"

"What?" Gaara answered irritably, glaring at the woman speaking. Said person frowned and her nose crinkled in distaste. Her short, gray hair stuck up slightly just above her ears, and her body was so thin a gush of wind was likely to blow her away. Gaara had always though her hands were the most repelling part of her. So thin the veins stood proudly, fingers long and spindly in a less than pleasant way and the beige nails, or claws if you preferred kept pushing her classes up her nose in an unnecessarily showy fashion, as if she wanted to prove something by it.

"Is there something disturbing you and your focus or do you not find the village issues as something that would befall interesting to you? Perhaps you should considerate your position before so quickly dismissing all your duties as your… _status _requires?"

Gaara would give just about anything to snap that smirking woman's neck right now. Anything, he wasn't kidding. Money, his possessions, his home, hell, his own arm! Why were these people so hell-bent on making his life as bad as they could? "I would request that you either remind yourself of your own status or leave the room."

She opened her mouth to argue. "Or I shall remove you from this meeting and you will be rescheduled for a long-term political mission in the Land of Rain immediately."

The woman paled slightly. It was well known that the Land of Rain and the Land of Wind were not on friendly terms and that any attempts at trying to negotiate would be resolved in a violent bloodbath without a second thought. "Now as we have gotten that tedious nonsense out of the way, I would ask of you why we are focusing on this point right now as it is not the most pressing issue."

"What do you mean?" an elderly man with shockingly black hair and a thick beard in the same color. Gaara almost liked him; he wasn't completely moved in the head.

"Our ally Leaf is in a serious need of combat support at this moment and I find it peculiar that you have not already found suitable ninja to send there." he said calmly, taking time to stare chillingly each and every council member dead into their eyes, challenging them.

The old man scratched his bald patch; cast a nervous glance across the un-responding room. "The thing is…"

A few seconds went by in silence as Gaara patiently waited for the man to speak, but it seemed the time would never come. "What is the thing, Kuchidashi?"

"We have no ninja to spare, Kazekage-sama. We have barely enough to patrol the perimeter and most jounin are caught up with their genin-teams."

"You chose not to divulge the ANBU status, which I happen to know aren't critical."

"We need the ANBU Black Ops in case of emergency!" an old man shouted, rising to his feet and banging his hands down on the table, making it vibrate lightly. "We cannot dispatch them from their guarding duty for something as trivial as –"

"Yes?" Gaara interrupted, daring him to say his thoughts out loud; for something as trivial as an alliance. He would seriously kill them all if they did.

"You take this alliance too seriously!" another man said, joining the other one. "For decades, alliances and peace treaties have been created, and each has been broken sooner or later. Shinobi nations were not meant to support each other! You will not be allowed to leave this village for such beliefs!"

Gaara was silent for a moment, and then rubbed his temples with his fingertips.

"Why?" he said quietly.

"What do you mean why?" the two men answered aggressively.

"I'm wondering why you think you have a say in the matter."

Gasps were heard and small explosions of whispers erupted along the large table. "What are you saying, Kazekage-sama?" the taller man hissed in between clenched teeth.

"The villagers and shinobi will have a choice in the matter." Gaara stood, towering above the stocky men. "And I fail to see why they would not be willing to offer our allied village help."

With that, Gaara exited the room.

And this council could go to hell.

_We liked that, Kazekage-sama, yes, we did. While we're on such a roll, can't we go in there and beat them a little? Only a little bit?_

Gaara walked out the Kazekage building. He was about to gather some ninja to send off to Konoha. But his pace became slower and slower until he was almost walking on the spot. He wouldn't be able to spare many just as the council continuously stated, he knew that… They were low on ninjas… But…

Gaara racked his brain trying to think of someone, anyone that would be willing. Kankurou, though the redhead was reluctant to send him away. His older brother had only a few days ago hallucinated about something, and had been sent to the emergency. Sure, he was okay now, but Gaara had absolutely no way of knowing it wouldn't happen when Kankurou was in the most unfitting situation. So he wouldn't… Well, he was a wild card for now.

Matsuri would gladly go. That's one, even though she was just about to border the jounin rank, and her annoying friend, what was her name… Gaara couldn't muster up enough feelings to care about her name, so irrelevant and unnecessary. Baki would also be willing to go, as he had a certain connection with Uzumaki for reasons Gaara pretended to know nothing about, because it hurt him a little.

But who else?

Many people would be wanting to stay to protect their families for any danger that may befall the village in the undefended time. Of course they wouldn't leave the village understaffed if they had easy-kill children alone there.

_Damn it all to hell._

Well, at least he had three and a half ninja for now.

* * *

Not unlike his Kage-friend, Naruto was in a peculiar situation. He was even worse off than the time he drank a deciliter of glue, and that hadn't been pleasant nor easy to set straight. Sure, his council had been very willing to let him leave the village, but mostly because all of them were old and really hated him for being a demon host. All of them wanted him dead, and they were pretty open about it. They were bunch of unfriendly bastards anyway, and Naruto didn't care about them in the least.

The council had even very purposely ignored a very important fact; that if Naruto was caught and had his Biju extracted, the Akatsuki would have all nine tailed beasts and their purpose would be completed. Their ultimate weapon would be created and immediately perfected, fit to destroy countries in the matter of mere seconds.

But they had promptly refused to let even a single ANBU leave the village. And each jounin who wished to participate in the mission was to be accepted by the council.

And sure, a lot had been approved of. Kiba, Hinata, Shino, Sakura, Ino, Shikamaru, Chouji, Tenten, Konohamaru, a few chuunin, several jounins including two team leaders and a few Tokubetsu jounin, but still they would have a hard time surviving, and even less chance getting away. Tsunade had been denied. Jiraiya had been denied. Kakashi had been denied. He had almost not been able to get permission to have Sai, Neji and Lee. That had been one of the few moments Naruto had wished death onto another human being.

If Naruto's math was correct, they were thirty-six ninja ranging from chuunin to jounin, against seven S-ranked criminals, and Naruto suspected they had picked up several members along the way, making them twelve. It would make a three to one situation, which was not good, at all.

Many jounin would be killed instantly by the swift combination of Kisame and Itachi.

The Tokubetsu jounin would be bordering the thin line between life and death if engaging in battle with the clay-user Deidara and his childlike partner Tobi.

All chuunin together would be wiped out easily by the flesh-eating Zetsu who yet had to prove that his schizophrenic tendencies were a disadvantage in battle.

All his friends would be terminated by the mysterious female 'Blue' who was, even though she had never shown her abilities, terrifying in her own detached way.

And Sasuke would then die at the hands of the Leader. There was no room for discussions at this point. They would all die in one way or another.

And Naruto would be all alone.

Like he used to.

And then he would die.

Naruto sighed and slumped down on the ground, leaning against his apartment wall. Hands slowly rubbed his face, trying to get the sticky, disgusting feeling off of his skin. He was risking the lives of the people he loved more than anything on earth no matter what he did. He had to admit, there was no way he could get Sasuke out of there alive alone, and if they were less than seven, they would all be swarmed by Akatsuki and killed.

And even now, they were too few to defend each other and keeping the organization busy.

He was stuck.

And yet, they were scheduled to leave the village at 1600 hours.

Perhaps things were going to be okay after all. His friends were stronger than he gave them credit for.

Sakura and Ino had grown out of their rivalry and become strong kunoichi's with almost unrivaled medical talent. Shikamaru and Chouji had finally gained some form of determination to protect what they believed in. Hinata was no longer a weak-minded, scared girl with no wish to stand up for herself; she was a woman that stood her ground in any position. Kiba wasn't just all talk and no action anymore. Shino and Tenten had gained face and respect among the villagers because of their pure abilities. Lee was even stronger than his mentor due to his tremendous willpower and effort. Neji had put his fate aside and tried to reach for his own destiny instead. Even tiny little Konohamaru wasn't a kid anymore.

Yeah.

They'd be okay, all of them were strong. They would cover each other's backs for him.

Heaving himself to his feet, he started walking towards the village. It was raining now.

"What are you looking so glum about?" Sakura inquired almost cheerily as Naruto entered the main street, running up to stroll alongside with him. He didn't answer, merely continued to study the watery ground. Small puddles of water were already starting to pour down. He was wet. It was like the heaven's had opened themselves, sending bad omens all over.

"Don't be sad." Sakura said, smiling and punching him lightly in the shoulder. When he didn't retaliate, she sighed. "Nothing's going to happen, Naruto. You can't worry yourself like this."

"I can do what I want, I'm the Hokage now." Naruto muttered, a tint of loathing in his voice, as if he hated himself for actually taking the position.

She grabbed his arm, and led him through the crowd. After a minute, she dragged him down to sit on a wooden bench, plopping down next to him. "Naruto."

He didn't answer, didn't even spare her a glance. He was scared and felt sick to his stomach. They wouldn't make it. Any of them. They were going to die. And Naruto was sending them there with his own hands and selfish desires. His incapacity to stop things like these before they happened. Their blood was going to be on his hands.

"I know what you're thinking, I know you. This is not your fault, Naruto, do you understand? Nothing of this, _nothing _is your fault." she said softly, dragging a hand through his golden curls.

"Then why do things keep happening around me?" he whispered, pushing his knees to his chest to make himself feel less vulnerable.

"You can't feel responsible for everything in this world, and you can't do impossible things." The words seemed logical, but still not correct. Like, the world should be a perfect place. It was very logical, but still was wrong and just not possible. Naruto looked down, lips pressed into his kneecaps.

"But I should be able to protect people. I could have done something about Sasuke. I should have gone to look for him earlier than I did. I knew he wasn't at the ceremony, and I shouldn't have assumed that he was okay! I should have been there with him and I should have done something to –"

"You're not God, Naruto!" Sakura burst out, suddenly angry. "Don't play God, and don't be ridiculous! What were you supposed to do? Follow Sasuke around? He would have killed you for just thinking he couldn't take care of himself! Stop being such an idiot and realize there was nothing you didn't do that you were supposed to!"

The blonde stayed silent, eyes downcast and almost gray, not even moving a muscle at his former teammate's tantrum.

"You're such a loser! Why can't you be realistic for once?"

No response.

The pinkette slumped down, looking downcast as well when she didn't manage to rile him up, making him think of something else. "I tried at least, huh?" she mumbled, looking away.

"Yeah." Naruto murmured back, sighing. "You're great, Sakura-chan, really. What would I do without you?"

"You can't do no nothing without me." she teased, leaning her head on his shoulder. Naruto let his legs drop, feet hitting the ground. There was something really comforting about his female friend right now. "So you should just obey me, 'cause I know what's best for you."

"Okay. So what should I do then?" he asked, sending her a happy smile that didn't quite reach the sorrowful eyes.

"Stop worrying. And I'm guessing you think no one really wants to go, and that you're making them. You're not, Naruto. They're your friends, and they want to help you. And besides," she wriggled her eyebrows and jokingly flexed her biceps. "We're not babies, you know. I'd clobber you in a second."

"Lies. I'm much stronger than you." Naruto said, and the woman could feel him lighting up a bit. "You're not the Hokage."

"Pish posh, there was probably some form of misunderstanding. No way could a dead last like you ever become the Hokage." she ruffled his hair roughly, making his head swing from side to side. "Little brat."

"Don't call me that. You're a brat." he said sourly, irritated because of the mocking and hinting he wasn't fit to be Hokage.

"No, you're a brat. Come on Naruto, cheer up."

"Not possible. Don't order me around. You're my subordinate. I'll punish you."

"Oh yeah? Are you gonna spank me?"

"Eww, no, Sakura-chan!" Naruto exclaimed loudly, moving a decimeter away from her on the tiny bench. "Don't tell me what you do at night, I don't want to know."

"Ha, you'd wanna know. You're just a little prude, aren't you, Naru-_chan_?" she snickered at him, not even bothering to put up a hand to hide her impolite expression.

A second passed, and the winds changed.

"Why aren't you worried at all?!" Naruto suddenly exploded, jumping to his feet. "How can you be so fucking calm?! It's not human! It's not normal!"

The pink haired woman's playful expression died and faded in a heartbeat to be replaced with a solemn look. "I am worried."

Naruto wanted to punch something; he almost wanted to punch her. How could she not care about her friend's lives? It was certainly not something to just brush aside like she was doing! "But you –"

She held up a hand to shush him. "But I still believe that Sasuke-kun can take care of himself. And I believe that all of us will be fine, because I know they will try their hardest. You don't believe in your own friends?"

"I do, but there's always a risk when –"

"Well, damnit, Naruto! Everything is dangerous! Waking up and going on a mission, yes, it's dangerous! But how many S-rank missions have all of us set out on and returned safely?"

"This is different!"

"Why?"

Now they were just standing and yelling each other. Thankfully they were on an empty street.

"Because all of us won't come back this time!"

"_Why_?"

"Because the Akatsuki is stronger than me! I can't protect you this time!"

Silence fell. Sakura had no idea how to cure Naruto of that tiny bit of self-loathing that always believed he wasn't good enough for anything. And she had been trying to fix that for quite a while. Sometimes, when things looked bad, and that didn't mean a throat slicked with glue, Naruto would… shrink. He would devocalize and cease to exist. Like a shell some snails would abandon.

It was never something Sakura appreciated.

So she stayed quiet, and allowed Naruto to walk away.

They would meet up at the gate at 1600 hours anyway.

* * *

Lee was standing at the edge of the village, waiting at the gates. He was twenty minutes early at the meeting point, but he had his reasons. One, he had nothing to do. Two, he was anxious about the whole thing and needed some time to think. Three, the waiting reminded him a little bit about how his genin-missions had always started.

He would be the first one to arrive, and then closely followed by Gai, and then Neji who always would be visible the exact second they were supposed to meet and Tenten would come running behind Neji, waving and smiling. Life had been so much easier when you hadn't been able to see past the mission served in front of you.

Of course life was sweet because of the complicated but also awful because of the same concept. It was, to the brunette, very fickle. How one thing could be another at the same time without changing even the slightest bit. Such things were mostly untrustworthy and random, that could not be acquired by will but only by coincidence. This was a concept that played tricks with that which was Lee's mind.

The jounin, soon to be ANBU sat down on the ground, facing the wide path leading away from Konoha. They would walk that very soon. All of them. This road was also one of the complicated things. When he was a genin, it had meant improvement, that he was worthy of doing something more meaningful than cleaning houses. When he was a chuunin, it had meant that there was so much left he wanted to prove and that by the end of the road, he could finally show what he was made of. Right now, it was making him a little scared and somewhat nauseous. Wonder what if would feel like strolling down that road as an ANBU?

"Oi, Lee-san." a less dedicated voice rung throughout the silence. Lee turned his head to see the source of sound.

"Ah, hi Shikamaru-kun!" he answered happily, waving as much as he could from his position on the ground.

The shadow wielder plopped down new to him, and lay down on his back to watch the blue virgin sky that lacked his favorite sight, clouds. Somewhat at a loss of what to say, Lee spoke in a tone of uncertainty.

"Naruto-kun would not force you along. Why are you not choosing to say home with Temari-san?"

"She's being troublesome right now." Shikamaru answered, closing his eyes. "I can't get a moment of peace."

The older man furrowed his generous brow. Surely that could not be true? The genius was considered to be rather uncaring about many things, but this was almost crossing the line.

"Besides… What if you guys would never come back? As troublesome as it is, I feel that I have somewhat of a duty to help." he sighed, and Lee could tell. He was nervous. Nervous about never coming back to his home, his pregnant Temari and his unborn child.

"I suppose –"

"Ohayo!"

Tenten, Chouji and Ino were walking towards them, and a few meters behind them Neji and Hinata could be sighted. The shout had belonged to the loudmouth flower shop owner, and she was waving excitedly. "There you are, Shikamaru! We came to pick you up at your house but you weren't there! Lazy bum, making things _troublesome_…" she muttered jokingly, a glint in her eye.

Lee could see how alike she and his childhood Sakura were. They had the same attitude when cornered into a situation like this one. Cheerful and positive. It was a great quality, and it made them strong. To be able to carry others on your shoulders when feelings just as anxious yourself.

And just as he ended that thought, Sai and Sakura could be seen running up the street, female ninja waving and shouting greetings. Quickly she settled down and started talking to Neji about something Lee couldn't hear.

"Hello mighty wimps! What is up with everybody being so early?" an obnoxious voice shouted, belonging to the Inuzuka who was smiling cockily who just arrived. Next to him the bug master was walking in silence, eyes set dead ahead.

"What are you implying?" Sakura shouted back, racing up to the dog lover and facing him with a fist mere inches from his facial structure. "You're here too, aren't you?"

"Only because of Shino! He's such a prissy!"

"Aren't you more of a prissy if you're taking orders from a priss?"

"That's not the way it was!"

"That's the way it sounded to me!"

The sight somewhat resembled two stray dogs about to get physical in a non-sexual way. Both were baring teeth, eyes wide, threatening and their postures were shaped for a quick start. Lee hesitated to go in between them, they were lightening the atmosphere a slight bit and that little insignificant heightening was probably something they could all really use.

The twenty minutes passed, and soon there was only two people left to arrive. And so they came.

Naruto and Konohamaru walking alongside each other, both solemn and gray with heads staring down onto the ground, and the large group of ninja went deadly silent. Lee understood why everyone was so quiet. The mere air around them seemed cross about something, and for some reason the demon container seemed so much older than he actually was. He gathered all ninjas and they were split into traveling cells of five, and soon all were ready for takeoff.

The tapping sound of feet against surface was almost inaudible.

* * *

The redhead led a group of twenty shinobis ranging from through the main street of Sunagakure. There had been many willing to offer help to Konoha, and Gaara was pleased about it. Almost smug, if one could be honest.

He was displeased about the fact that Kankurou had been impossible to convince to stay, but at least he seemed healthy enough. If he had that kind of power to argue with, he should be just fine in battle.

By the gate, the group was met with nine displeased faces, and one disappointed. Not that Gaara cared about that. Kushidachi was still one of the people who wished him dead but were nice about it.

"I suppose these are who you plan to send to Konoha?" the woman with the spindly hands said in a sharp, controlled tone.

"Yes. Now please move aside."

_This is so much fun! Oh, let's do something! Blow a raspberry at her! Make a crude hand gesture! Mouth bad words! We've never felt so __**alive**_

They did, although rather reluctantly. But when Gaara marched out the port, she faked a loud cough, forcing him to turn and stare expectantly at her.

"I assume you have already explained each person's duty and the plan to them all. Will you be saying goodbye now or have you already?"

"Why should I?" he answered, and he almost felt excited.

There was a pregnant pause for about the longest three seconds there had ever been.

"I'm going to go with them."

* * *

**A/N**: Review and make me happy. :P


	13. Pleuvoir, Rain

**A/N**: This chapter is dedicated to all my reviewers who have stuck with silly little me for such a long time now. I love you! XD Only one more chapter to go now, your pain is near its end. :)

**Disclaimer**: No, not yet. Damn.

**Warnings**: Blood, violence, language, angst and some seriously weird shit.

* * *

_This cave was the place for all of them to die._

_The redhead tried to walk, but fell to his knees, banging hard into the stone ground. It hurt, but so did his entire body. What was the point of it anyway? It was only a minor injury to add to the pile anyhow. _

_He had no intentions of letting anybody die anywhere, anytime, at any cost. Right now, it was all about getting people away, far away from here. Gaara was for the first time in his entire life, scared beyond what he imagined possible. His heart beat in an irregular pace, his eyes wouldn't seem to be able to turn away from the disturbing scene in front of him and his muscles felt weak and useless.__ The blood pounded in his ears and his pulse struggled to keep going. He had never been so scared in his entire life. His childhood, his memories, his growth, his strength, his love, his moments of bravery were so far away from reach Gaara wanted to cry. It gripped at his heart, sent him flying into an abyss of the indescribable feeling of not knowing what to do. He felt lost. The fear… Ate him from the inside. A hole inside him. The questions, the unanswered questions. What if, what if? Why, when, how? Could it, would it, should it? And a glint of love. He was so scared. _

_Confused._

_He could only hope Lee was intelligent enough to move from the cave's opening where he stood and run away. Far away. Really, really, really far away._

_And hoping so, Gaara__ did nothing but stare at what was only a few meters in front of him._

_A horrible monster. _

_Swelling by the second, fueled by depthless rage._

* * *

The sun stood high in the sky, dripping red onto the blue canvas. Gaara would almost want to call it a final battle, as the atmosphere all but predicted it, but refused to acknowledge it. In final battles, people died.

This was not such a time, because no one would die. He would make sure of that himself.

The team of twenty-one had split into seven three-man cells, and were traveling fast in a horizontal line spread out over probably three hundred meters, looking to intercept the Konoha ninja that they knew were approaching. Gaara had along with the female brunette in his cell – And that cheeky blonde one had managed to avoid getting sent to a team until there was none left but Gaara, himself and his ANBU friend. Damn sneak – calculated that they should collide with at least one Konoha team in approximately five to fifteen minutes.

Of course, that was just bullshit. Gaara knew the whole lot of them would not be very thrilled thus their pace would be a lot slower than Hasamaru and Kakyan had anticipated. But Kakyan seemed like such a nice girl he didn't want to crush her spirits even before they had set out.

It wasn't polite.

The radio on Gaara's neck crackled and a breathy voice spoke in between gasps.

"We've made contact with a three-man team including two women and a man."

"What is your position?"

"We're team on the far left, so just go left for a few minutes and you'll see us."

He gave his temporary teammates a glance, checking if they had heard, and on a mutual nod they set off, feet rapping against the thick wooden branches. The seconds seemed to pass by in slow motion. The leaves shook slower each time their tree vibrated. The sun was slower to reach them after exiting the shadows. Air went into his lungs and he didn't have the time to breathe in before the next inhale was on its way. Gaara was somewhat freaked. Was there someone watching them, making them slow and vulnerable? He did, without question, feel sluggish and hesitated to make each move. Or was it merely the inescapable fear of that the apocalypse had arrived? Was this fear embodied?

"Here, Gaara-sama!" Tenten shouted from fifteen meters ahead and the brunette waved her hand at them in a greeting. Gaara didn't really do anything to respond to the gesture, deeming it unnecessary. "Were you the one's on the far right?"

"Yes." Gaara said with a grim face, wordlessly explaining there were no more friendly ninja to be expected.

He took in the view. There were about twenty ninjas plus his own, making forty. That was still a hell a lot of ninjas, and there were still half of them here to come. At the moment, when they were all crammed into the small opening the forest offered, they looked like half an army. But Gaara knew that when they ascended to the battlefield, that vision would disappear and be replaced with only a few feeble ninjas instead of the battalions needed.

After one minute, a three man cell arrived containing Sakura, Sai and a chuunin Gaara didn't recognize. He did nothing to go and greet them. He didn't really want to. And there was always the chance he snapped the pinkette's neck in the spur of the second. Thus there would be one less shinobi to aid Naruto in battle, which was not what Gaara wanted. So he stayed leaned against the thick tree, looking for all intents and purposes ready to kill everyone within range.

The Kazekage wanted to look like that too. That way no one would dare come and speak to him so he wouldn't be bothered. Plus, he didn't have to talk. So the murderous face stayed on, Gaara decided.

It slipped off in a about a half millisecond and was replaced with concern as the second three man cell arrived, containing Kiba and Akamaru, Lee and Shikamaru. Fuck, fuck, _goddamn it_, Lee was here too! He was supposed to stay in Konoha. Things would be easier for Gaara that way. He wouldn't have to worry every second about Lee if the man was back safe and secure in Konohagakure.

He sneaked himself in between the numerous amount of humans and tapped Lee on the shoulder. The brunette had to be at least a good five centimeters taller than him, he noticed. The Kazekage felt small. "Hey." Gaara said in his usual tone, and Lee swung around.

"Ohayo, Gaara-sama."

"Gaara."

"Yes of course, Gaara-sama." Lee smiled at him, and leaned down. For a split second the redhead had the mad vision Lee was going to drool and slobber on him due to his shorter teammate-ship with Kiba, but all he received was a light kiss on his left cheek. That was nicer than getting drenched in saliva. His pale cheeks went slightly pink before Gaara managed to force it away. This was serious. They were in the middle of a serious mission, and fidgeting over something as small as human contact wasn't acceptable.

"Can I talk to you for a moment?" Gaara asked politely. Though, he had asked after he had grabbed the brunette by the wrist and dragged him away into the forest away from the group of listening ears.

"I suppose you could. What is it that you wish to speak of?" he said in his normal, cheerful tone when they stopped by an old oak tree. Well, at least he was happy. It was always a plus when Lee was happy. Happyface Lee made… well, not Happyface Gaara, but… Not-quite-so-murderous Gaara. Yes, that was fitting (One would say it made Gaara übercute-and-cuddly Gaara, but that person would be killed very fast in a painful manner).

"Which people are you teamed up with?" he asked, trying not to sound concerned as if would present awkward situations.

"Those that I arrived with. Kiba and Shikamaru." Lee answered, and added as an afterthought: "And Akamaru. He is quite large now, did you notice? When we anticipated in the chuunin exams he was small enough to sleep on Kiba's head."

He smiled.

_He's so pretty. Isn't he, Gaara-sama? What do you think he would say if we proposed a qui – _

Gaara didn't miss a beat, (firmly ignoring the scandalizing voice in his head) and said steadily: "I wish to arrange it so that you either switch places with one of my shinobi or that I switch with one of your teammates."

There was silence for a few seconds. The winds dragged through the leaves, whispering secrets of the rainy weather to come. Cold droplets shone when they materialized on the sleeping trees and they gave the promise of the coldest day this summer-month would offer. A hand to heart promise. It wouldn't be surprising if snow would start to fall from the pregnant black clouds. A strike of thunder clapped through the sky which flinched and paled for a second before regaining its usual navy-blue appearance.

"Gaara-sama…" There was an odd tint to his voice, as if he was on the verge of choking, "I am sure it could be arranged rather easily since Naruto-kun –"

"Good." Gaara abruptly cut in, and with a light push shoved Lee down to sit with his back pressed up against the tree's thick trunk. Floating down to sit in between the spread legs – in a more graceful and dignifying manner than the previous mentioned one – he leaned his head back against a clothed shoulder, staring up into the sky. There was a spreading moment of peace. He didn't know what to say. It felt somewhat stupid to say anything as everything was trivial next to the ordeal they were about to go through. Something ordinary would feel somewhat ignorant and naïve. Something deeply serious and perhaps dark would be a real killer to talk about right now. The confidence they all had might as well choke itself if they started going into the very many, disastrous details. And if someone even tried to talk about something happy, Gaara would bite their head off. He wasn't in the mood.

Silence would be the perfect cure. It gave the right impression to everyone as each person here would have a different opinion of their silence. Therefore, no words were uttered.

Another bolt of lightning shot through heaven's gates.

Many breaths were drawn.

But the clouds turned somewhat friendlier; as if happy the shock of electric was finally out of their system. Maybe it wouldn't rain after all.

* * *

_Sasuke was close to crying, and was yelling in panic for him to stop. Restlessly he tried to stand, but his broken legs wouldn't hold. Each scream he forced through his sore throat stung like he had been burnt. But he couldn't stop screaming, pleading for him to stop. No visible tears spilled over his bleeding cheeks. Each millisecond that passed added more dark clouds to the depthless collection of fear in his stomach. Lightning coursed through his body. Never, ever in his life had he been as scared as he was now. And all for someone else's sake. And more pleading was shouted. But even as Sasuke believed he was shouting, everything the people around him could see was the last innocent Uchiha laying on the floor bathing in a pond of his own blood. _

_Sakura was staring, mouth gaping and eyes wide in something unidentified. Her legs were shaking like Bambi's on the ice and hand gripped feverishly on the damp cave wall behind her. She was scared. Bangs of her pink hair fell in sweaty strands in her face. The sharp stone cut her flesh, making his palms drip of red. Horror had been given a female face._

_Itachi breathed out, and watched in amazement at the horrendous view. He didn't want to look away, and even if he did he wouldn't be able to do so anyway. The power was raw, it was bending his mind, making him want to meld with the enticing waves of strength. _

_Hinata's legs gave way, and softly she connected with the ground, left leg in an awkward position. She didn't really notice it, white bloodline eyes fixed on the angry sight. Her lips trembled in a nervous habit, thought it seemed like she wasn't aware of it._

_Sai froze, hands in the middle of drawing what seemed like his millionth ink painting. His usually stoic face twisted into one of concern and fear. He tried to twirl his body which was in the middle of falling backwards to turn towards the object that held his attention, but he merely continued to crash onto the floor._

_Tenten threw a needle. The weapon was pressed flush against the cave wall by the unquestionable wave of power only to fall to the ground moments later. Her muscles wouldn't move, rendering her unable to fight. But time seemed to have stopped anyway. _

_Shikamaru closed his mouth, didn't want to breathe this air. He draped his clothes tighter around himself, didn't want to feel the chakra-enhanced wind scorch his skin. Closed his eyes, wanted to keep his eyesight, didn't want to watch anyway. He wanted to be able to return home again. So he stood quiet, and endured._

_Blue showed emotion. The female felt rage and sick pleasure build within her. Anger because things were backfiring. That plans weren't followed, their simple yet perfected scheme was failing. Excitement because she was granted with the sight of pure power. And she took pleasure in it._

_Neji ached, and his chest seemed to press inwards, forcing him to choke on nothing. Fear, horror and memories were the foundation of his current state. Wanted to go closer, asking if he was okay. Wanted to ask if there was anything he could do to make the other feel better. But he was immobilized by something he couldn't recognize._

_Kiba was pale, teeth clapping without rhythm together. Akamaru followed his animal instincts and tried to hide behind his master's body. The brunette also felt an inane urge to do what he usually did. Shout cocky comments, parade around and piss people off. But he couldn't now. He'd die before he had time to take a final breath._

_Shino hid inside his many layers of clothing and bugs, but still felt naked and inexperienced in front this new occurrence. He had no idea how to act, no idea what to do and a voice inside him said to wait and see. That this was not something he was strong enough to affect in any way._

_Deidara edged closer to the flaming inferno, and even as he was several meters away he could feel the fire licking his skin through his cloak. This was a work of art, and Deidara suspected it would die down in a moment. This was true art. That only existed for few brief seconds. A few inches closer. Sasori-danna couldn't have been more wrong, he mused. Art was really a bang._

_Ino exhaled and inhaled in an unhealthy pace. Her body felt dead. The symbol she once believed stood for kindness was set ablaze, slowly shifting from red to black. A cloak of anger. Tsunade had told Ino about this, and she knew. But the blonde refused to believe this was what her master had meant. This could just not be a normal occurrence. _

_Kankurou lost all control of his three puppets, allowed them to fall to the ground. His eyes darted from the center of the enormous cave to the younger brunette roughly ten meters to his left. All the while, a weird feeling shot through him. It felt… As if his brain was too large for his skull. It was a tad uncomfortable._

_Pein, and five of his companions backed away. This was going to be dangerous, and it could possibly destroy what he had planned for more than a decade. His special eyes whirred in anger. This was not how it was supposed to go!_

_Chouji, surprised, did not cease his firm deathgrip on slim female opponent. His eyes widened, and his lips formed a large 'O' at the sight. He had seen the person in question pull forth an amazing power, a force of nature. But this was not natural, nor… okay. It was not allowed even._

_Tobi was in a peculiar position. The masked teenager was five centimeters from the source of energy. On his hands and knees, he looked up to see the furious face of a beast that was trembling with change. Slowly, he put one knee backwards, along with one hand. In that cautious pace, he started moving away from the discharge of intensity._

_Gaara and Lee locked eyes._

_This was not going to end well. _

_So the Kazekage rose to his feet, costing him an indescribably amount of power and started to take baby steps towards the brunette jounin. But each step made him get further away, and the earth beneath his feet seemed to only lengthen the distance between them. It would seem the universe did not want this happening to be ignored._

_But he was one of the most persistent humans there ever was on this planet._

_Well, fuck the world then. Gaara hadn't cared that much to begin with and he didn't now either. Even though that was an illogical and stupid lie, it seemed to strengthen his resolution to get his feet to move._

_He was going over there, and he was doing it now._

* * *

Mental map – Rescue mission, Sasuke Uchiha, S-Rank.

Nature settings, clear. Numbers, clear. Mission goal, xxx. Survival-rate; 14.4071 Returning number, xxx. Mission accomplished, xxx.

Teams.

(How are we to select teams? How are we to decide which people goes with each other? Should we decide based on one's combat skills? Should we decide based one's emotion towards each other? Should we decide based on their memories and experiences with each other? And if so, to what extent?)

Hide.

(Which would be the right people and where would be the right place to position them? Where would be the most rewarding spot for each squad? Is there such a place? And if there is such a place, will it be undetectable to the enemy? How many people can we disguise in nature, and how many will have homemade hideouts? Which people should be the closest? Which one should be the furthest away? Which ones could blow our cover?)

Move, option 1.

(If the desired target moved, would we move? In that case, which people would move? Should we all, or just a selected few? Does if matter the arrangement of who will move first? Should we decide beforehand? Should we have a sign? Are there any factors that could endanger possible plans?)

Move, option 2.

(Which would be the first ones to move in case of offensive movement from enemy? Which ones are worth sacrificing?)

Forward.

(If one were to advance, how were one to advance? If one were caught with enemies that would overpower one, should one call for help? Should one endure? Should one grow stronger in the spur of the moment? Who will be the strongest one? Should everyone choose an enemy based on their own power or should one simply go for the element of probably non-existing surprise? Who will be the last ones to stand?)

Retreat.

(When will we retreat? Will there ever be such a possibility?)

_Nara Shikamaru, 19._

_Will we get home again?_

* * *

A memory, to pass the time. Gaara decided. they would move out really soon, the time could be counted in seconds for sure. But he wanted to stay here for a much longer time. He took a deep breath. How much time had the two of them been given? Not much.

He didn't ask for much anyway. He was more than happy with what he had and had been given.

Gaara closed his eyes and leaned backwards, closer to Lee, drew the strong arms around his shoulders. A memory, to pass the time. Yeah.

The one when Lee accidentally drank a scary amount of sake? No.

The one when Gaara drank too much sake, though totally on purpose? No.

The one when they together tried to handle a Suna genin team and failed comically? No.

The one when the redhead refused to acknowledge the fact that he had a terrible fever and even more fiercely refused to drink that medicine? No.

The one where Lee and his mentor nearly sent the youngling into a cardiac arrest with something that should never be spoken of ever in this lifetime? No.

The one where the older one tried to make Gaara befriend Neji? No.

The one when Lee had persuaded Gaara to dye his hair and that idiot had just messed up his hair completely? No.

The one where the Kazekage tried to make his older friend like the tea Earl Gray? No.

The one when Gaara had been sad and been cheered up? Well…

The one when Lee tried to understand just what the protecting shield of sand Gaara had rejected and allowed? No.

The one when the brunette couldn't sing, and the redhead couldn't dance? **No**.

The one where Lee had been sad because he had grasped the fact that ANBU had uniforms and did under no circumstances allow his beloved jumpsuit? No. (1)

_That one was fun, wasn't it, Kazekage-sama? We enjoyed that one…The death of the eternal jumpsuit vision… Yes, we liked that one… _

All those memories where precious to him. But still… They all faded in comparison to the August Firework Festival last year. Gaara remembered that so clearly. It had been so much fun, even though he would never, ever, never say so.

Yeah, that festival had been fun.

* * *

(1) I'm thinking of making one-shots of these silly little things, so if you were even a little amused by them you should keep check of my profile. :)

**A/N**: AAAAH, ONE MORE CHAPTER TO GO! And, hopefully, I will get it done before the 30th, but I'm only halfway done and it's already 15 pages, so... hehe... -runs far away from thrown weapons-


	14. Our Alliance, part I

**A/N**: I tried to finish it, but GODDAMN IT I just can't seem to get cracking, so I thought, well, here's the first half, you'll get the second part as soon as it will cooperative with me. :D So the NEXT chapter will be the last one (yes, yes, I can't do that since I said this was the end, but I'm a bad person, you are allowed to beat me with a stick).

**Disclaimer**:Still not……………………….. But soon!

**Warnings**: The usual, you know.

* * *

Gaara took a breath. And another, and another. The sand around Deidara's work of art slid to the floor. He was so tired. He wasn't going to be able to go on much longer. Yet there was still so much left to do.

The cave walls were still intact, dark and gloomy.

His four-man squad hadn't been separated yet. Lee was not too far away fighting a short, what appeared to be, teenage boy with an orange swirly mask on his face - Tobi? - and was barely able to evade the earth-based attacks, seemingly at a disadvantage of the terrain. It made Gaara worry. It really did, but he could barely keep up with his own enemy, let alone split his concentration in two to protect Lee. It was impossible. 

Neji and Tenten were fighting together against a large maroon-haired man that seemed to absorb their every hit without the least bit of effort, spewing their efforts back at them.

Gaara noticed a small clay bird slashing at him from behind and quickly erected a barrier of hardened sand to protect his body from harm, and said clay figure exploded violently, cracking the ground. (1) A fraction of a second later perhaps a dozen of small, almost imperceptible spiders dropped down from above, dropping threads of a hair's bread all around his shield, almost like a Christmas present.

The spiders fell against the sand, made tiny little craters in the sand as they exploded and disappeared into nothingness. It was obvious they were not the real threat. 

Gaara sent out a wall of chakra, trying to determine the purpose of the threads. They were thin, but strong he noted as his hands of sand failed to rip one of them into pieces. He made his sand sink like quicksand, shrugging the threads down to the earth where they fluttered down to lie, unmoving and seemingly harmless. 

The Kazekage knew better than to think they were just for decoration, but he was reluctant to move from his spot as he had during the battle built up an impenetrable shield of chakra-enhanced sand by the strongest minerals in his artillery under his feet as his opponent,_Deidara_, was using earth based attacks, just like his goofy partner. 

Gaara was an earth user. And he was more skilled than this little blond…_rodent_. 

_Kill him. Squeeze his blood out… His spine sticking through his throat__ and tongue, yes, isn't that a plausible death, Kazekage-sama? We would like that…_

Be quiet, he hissed to his head. He didn't need to have his intentions changed too. He was to… what was it? Yes, he was to get as many people in the cave… not killed. But still, even this resolve made him waver somewhat. He was, indeed, trying to kill Deidara. And hopefully, he'd kill even more than one Akatsuki.

Gaara was abruptly thrown out of his thoughts when the ends of each string was grabbed in the beak of small swans that circulated around him, trying desperately to constrict his own layer of sand around him in a choking manner. 

He almost felt like laughing. This Deidara must be running out of tricks. Did he seriously believe those fragile little birds could tie him down?

He allowed one string to slip through, and with his bare hand he grabbed it. It was surprisingly sharp, cased almost invisible injuries in his hand. Ignoring the minor pain, he made a whipping motion towards Deidara that made the bird lose hold of it and flap helplessly back to its creator that somewhat sluggishly dodged it. 

They were both tired. Everyone was tired.

How could anyone not be tired? Gaara would strangle the person that was not tired. He would claw out the eyes of the person that wasn't so_fucking tired _that breathing was a chore almost more than possible to keep up with.

Suddenly, he felt something indescribable sneak past him, thickening the air, sinking Gaara into believing he was currently stranded in a pool of syrup or possibly tangy toothpaste. Taking on a guarding stance, he placed a hand over his left eye and immediately he was granted with the view of the entire enormous cave. 

Few people were outside, as the second born Uchiha had been kept inside the cave, unguarded and unattended but unconscious. He was at the moment not so unconscious, fighting viciously against his older relative alongside with his lover.

Gaara shifted his weight from the left foot to the right one, feeling anxious. Perhaps seven, eight chuunin and Tokubetsu Jounin stood facing two carrot haired men with peculiar faces. Chouji, Shikamaru and Ino fought The Leader and Blue, each having similar grudges against those two. Gaara was pretty sure those three would not leave this cave until their enemies were dead, to honor their childhood sensei perhaps.

But this was starting to get ridiculous. 

This battle, this war, had been going on for more than four hours.

Everyone had to be so tired beyond words. Yet when Gaara gazed around himself, all he could see were determined stares and furious faces.

Suddenly, a raven-haired man with the swirl mask appeared beside Deidara, screaming; "DEIDARA-_SEMPAI_!"

The blonde went rigid and threw a punch at the younger teen which was dodged easily. "Go away Tobi! Stupid nuisance, un!"

"But Deidara-sempai…!" Tobi said in a pathetic manner, and they both had to put a temporarily end to their conversation as Gaara launched an attack consisting of five sand hands against then, which split into nine arms in midair. After much effort, they managed to land on the ground not captured but not unharmed. Deidara was bleeding heavily from a wound near the left elbow and Tobi's shoes were both drenched in red.

"Go away!"

"Deidara-sem_paaaaai_!" Tobi whined.

"Get your own opponent, stupid dog, un!" Deidara slugged at him, and this Tobi got the hint and as the good boy he is, he scurried away to find an opponent that wasn't occupied.

Gaara went cold.

_Where is Tobi's opponent?_

The Kazekage once again gazed through his eye of sand just below the roof of the cave. 

_Lee was Tobi's opponent, yes, Kazekage-sama?_

As the voice in his head, though trying to stay calm, was starting to panic, Gaara struggled to keep his vision from going spotty.

_Where is Lee?_

He was breathing in shallow breaths, his pulse beat faster than it had done in his entire life, his muscles cramped and relaxed and his eyes stung for some inexplicable reason. 

Gaara couldn't see him anywhere in the gigantic cave. Flashes of green turned out to be Chuunin vests and the number of black-haired people were too many to estimate.

_WHERE THE FUCK IS HE!_

Now he failed the struggle and everything turned red. Mechanically, he turned towards Deidara. This was ending, and it was ending now. Gathering all his strength, he sent an enormous wave of sand towards Deidara, who was just creating two clay creatures in his hand and one in his mouth. Undisturbed about Deidara's coming plans, he pressed on, forcing Deidara to turn and run from the wall of sand.

A few second later the blond appeared above the wave, comfortlessly standing on a large, thick bird with a rather long neck. The bird opened it's mouth and let loose a stream of small pieces of clay, making them rain down all around Gaara who had to threw up an extra thick shield to keep him protected and to keep the ground around him from changing too much. 

Deidara fought in the air, Gaara fought on the ground. If the ground terrain was disturbed it would be at Gaara's disadvantage.

The redhead narrowed his eyes as the ground stopped reverberating, signaling the end of the attack.

Now, he was done with this. 

Lifting his arms, the wall grew bigger but thinner, going from roof to ground and made it advance towards Deidara who dutifully flew through the air away from it.

Now, Deidara couldn't see him, so Gaara made a run for it, desperate to find where Lee was. This would at least make Deidara somewhat confused, giving Gaara a few more seconds to run on.

Flashes of other battles going on around him distracted him, but he ignored them. Lee wasn't in the cave, therefore he must be outside. But how the fuck was he going to find Lee? The cave was an area which one could not expand and outside the limits didn't exist. Lee could be miles away from here!

Reaching his chakra out ignoring the risks of other people feeling it, he searched intently for anything that at least left a trail of Lee's presence. He was rewarded with nothing. 

The panic rose into his throat, making him want to be violently ill. This was not how it was supposed to be. Lee was a jounin of a very high degree, almost an ANBU. He was not supposed to be one of the dead ones in this battle. A Chuunin or Tokubetsu Jounin was much more at risk, they were weaker, and therefore it should be those who died. It wasn't fair!

A loud scream of horror was exhaled, and it bounced around the cave many times before fading. Gaara tuned in on his eye as he ran away from the source of noise. He wanted to know, but he had no business with that right now. Lee was of the utmost importance right now.

But when he received what his floating eye saw, he couldn't do anything but stop right in front of the cave's small opening. He turned around, and knot of panic he had in his stomach doubled.

Naruto was kneeling, bent over a lifeless, pale figure, arms tied around its waist. Thick, dark blood dripped through his hands slowly. Sasuke was white and the mouth was formed in a small 'o', face contorted in a show of surprise.

A few meters away Itachi stood, looking grim and… somewhat put out?

Beside him, at least half a head shorter, Tobi stood sheepishly with his black gloves completely soaked with the youngest Uchiha's blood. You couldn't see it, but you could feel it. The gangly teenager was smiling like he usually did, mischievously. 

_Oh God…_

Red and clumsy chakra fused with Naruto's tears and grew larger, clinging onto his chest until his entire front was covered in it. Few seconds later, nothing of the old Naruto was visible beneath the Kyuubi shield. Sasuke was dropped as his skin sizzled with the heat, and Naruto got up to his feet, swinging uncertainly from side to side, as if unsure who to attack.

Four, five, six tails.

A quick _swish_ and one of the tails had smacked Tobi harshly in the back, making him fall forwards into the ground, steadying himself on all fours.

The entire cave seemed to rumble with force, and every human within it seemed to stop, turn and observe. Different emotions swayed the location.

Naruto let a furious growl rip and dug his left claw into the teens shoulder and said person started resisting vigorously. The fox let go, sniffing in the air for something unknown. Tobi slowly backed away, sensing the danger.

Gaara moved closer. Maybe he could do something. 

He knew from experience that it wasn't all that pleasant to wake up from a possessed coma and realized you had killed someone, no matter if friend or foe.

Inched closer.

Another horrible growl, and those red eyes locked onto the cave opening behind him. Gaara glanced back, and his heart jumped.

Lee hung off the wall, hands clutching the stone. His legs seemed to be limp, as his arms looked like they were the only thing keeping him up. Gaara turned, but now that his panic wasn't fueling him, he felt the flood of fatigue crash over him. He could barely move even a step.

Fell to his knees, started crawling towards Lee.

Lee fell down, unconscious, and the crack was like that of a whip to Gaara's ears.

Naruto behind them grew yet another tail. 

Blue wriggled lose of Chouji's grip and threw herself at Naruto, starting an attack of tremendous power. Paper butterflies behind her formed a 'V' behind their master.

Naruto moved faster than ever, and before the female had realized it, he had pieced her heart roughly with a paw. She fell to the ground, dead, paper animals littered all over her body.

Another flash, and two chuunin and all five of The Leader's companions dropped down on the floor, only two struck people still breathing.

A third flash. Itachi and Tobi were thrown across the cave, crashing against the wall. The younger one rose a second after, but not Itachi. He sunk down on the floor, spinal cord snapped in two. The white bone was visible through the remains of his Akatsuki cloak. Immediately, Tobi kneeled and forged some chakra through his hands and over Itachi's back, as if healing him. 

A fourth flash. The roof above everyone crackled and started to fall down. 

People evaded the falling rocks as much as they could in their current situation, but they all were so tired. Too tired. 

Soon the roof was no more and the midday sun shone down upon them. 

Naruto was crouching next to Sasuke's body that had miraculously not been completely buried under rocks, merely sprinkled with pebbles. Blood tricked out of his mouth.

The stench of his love's blood, _Sasuke's_blood drew Naruto over the edge. He shrunk, as if gathering power and the seven tails grew into eight. He stood on his hind legs, raised his paws toward the sun and roared out his pain so loudly that several eardrums must have burst.

A wave of chakra flared out beneath Naruto's feet, and the earth split, creating a large crack.

Gaara turned around at the sound of this deafening roar and saw in fear as Naruto, still completely covered in red chakra, started _splitting into two_.

Naruto was splitting in half.

Naruto was _splitting _in half. 

After ten seconds, Naruto had two upper bodies, and three legs. Four legs. After a full minute, there were two Kyuubi-possessed Narutos standing next to each other.

The ground started to shake. And then, Gaara thought he had gone insane.

Beside the left Naruto, a second body was starting to take form on the ground. In horror, Gaara watched as a nearby stone morphed into another body of the trashed Sasuke.

This was not making any sense at all. The little circular area in which Naruto and Sasuke resided seemed to double.

Then, a sudden start from the ground and Gaara was thrown forward, face hitting stone in a painful combination.

Gaara couldn't understand anything.

Earth spouted in between the Narutos, sending them further apart. After a minute, a figure appeared on this very gap. A new person. Hinata, and she looked like she had for all intents and purposes just grown out of the air, her petite body shaking in fear.

Gaara looked to the far side of the cave which was now a considerable longer length away since the earth seemed to expand. A Hinata was standing over there too, also shivering with fear like her newborn clone. And one between the Narutos. There now were two Narutos, two Sasukes, two Hinatas and now two dead bodies of Blue. This was too all confusing.

After a few minutes, there were clones of everybody. It was one of the cave walls had turned into a mirror and actually reflected them.

Both of the Narutos's red chakra grew more violent and started twisting and turning, shaping itself larger and larger to that the formerly human sized fox towered with one tails four meters up in the air.

_Don't we see what is happening, Kazekage-sama?_

Gaara blinked.

_Don't we understand what is happening, Gaara-sama!_

He exhaled, and listened to his internal voice. Never had he imagined that this voice had a brain of its own.

_Naruto is furious. Kyuubi chakra is enhancing this rage. And Naruto is too scared to understand how much power he wields right now, even though Kyuubi is in control, ne, Gaara-san?_

That really cleared this up. No, really, he perfectly understood everything right now. And now that he squinted, he could see his own copy looking right back at him, mirroring his moves and facial expression perfectly.

_Naruto is creating a rip in the space continuum. _

What was that supposed to mean?

_He is splitting our universe in two parallel ones. _

Gaara had read about parallels. The theory was that there was not one universe, but many with alternative surroundings, and that there was a different version of each human in every one in these parallels, and that not everything happened exactly alike in each of them. If a female survived giving birth in one world, she could die from blood loss in one and kill herself before getting impregnated in another.

And if this was true…

It would seem I am in the parallel to the right, was all he managed to think before he passed out.

* * *

The left one.

It felt like an eternity before Gaara opened his eyes again, but he realized it could not have been more than minutes as Naruto was still standing in the center of the cave, tails flashing wildly about and Sasuke lying by his feet getting paler by the second. 

The cave was normal again. There wasn't a copy of it just next to the cave wall. The world was normal again.

Gaara was somewhat surprised someone hadn't killed him while he lay there defenseless.

He looked up.

_Fuck__, DAMN this all to hell, death would be better._

Above him stood Neji Hyuuga in a guarding stance, fending of attacks coming from random enemies. He looked real busy too, and Gaara could barely see his hands which flew through the air shielding from incoming kunai, shuriken and the occasional surprise attack.

_This is so humiliating._

Having to be defended by _Hyuuga _was something Gaara would rather die than have happening. Damn it, why did he have to pass out like that for! Now he would never be able to look the Hyuuga in the eye ever again, it would be too humiliating. Damn it, _damn it!_

Well, it would seem he was lucky in this parallel. He was alive, at least.

He got to his feet and as Neji noticed, he took off with quick steps towards the cave opening. Lee wasn't there anymore, and the entrance had collapsed, leaving a hole half the starting size. Jumping through it, he quickly spied Lee slumped against a tree, unconscious. 

Again, Gaara was surprised he wasn't dead, but unbelievably happy he wasn't. Rushing forward, he searched for a pulse. Faint, but detectable. Lee was pale and his skin was above normal temperature, Gaara would guess he had been poisoned in some way. Even if that was the shinobi way, Gaara always had thought such tactics were somewhat cowardly.

Through his eye of sand, he spotted Sakura not too far away from the entrance tending to a flesh wound in Sai's shoulder.

After a few quick strides, he grabbed her arm, dragged her off without a word and dumped her in front of Lee's still body. She got the point rather quickly. Hands hovering over Lee's body, she started channeling her chakra into a sphere and after a few moments of identification, drew out, as Gaara had suspected, thick, purple poison.

Five minutes passed. She gave Gaara a sad look.

"I'm sorry. There's more poison in his body, but it has already fused with the cells in his muscles and I can't draw it out without giving Lee a lethal injury."

Gaara was silent. How was he supposed to know what that meant? Yes, he knew Lee was poisoned, but what effect did the poison have?

As if reading his mind, Sakura continued. "I don't know what poison this is, and only Tsunade would know. Lee needs to get back to the village, that's all I know."

Gaara nodded grimly, but hesitated. Was he supposed to leave his comrades, his friends and his brother to their own? He felt a twinge in his chest and the blood pulsated so strongly through his body he could almost see the chakra swirling under his skin.

Lee coughed, and stopped breathing for a few seconds before starting again, however very erratically.

And the redhead took a decision. Hoisting the older one, not so gracefully, onto his shoulders, he turned and leapt away from the cave back to Konoha which was perhaps an hour away. Pumping chakra to his feet, the trees shook as he jumped. He needed to run really fast. He needed to at least divide that hour into half an hour, maybe even fifteen minutes. 

Hopefully there would be no distractions. 

Back in the cave Naruto lashed in rage and pain out as he sensed the vibrations in the ground made by Sasuke's heartbeat died out. 

The red paw aimed for the closest target, and Ino screamed as her shoulder was dislocated with the raw force. She screamed again when she popped it back into place again.

When the second attack came, she didn't scream. She wasn't hit even. But Shikamaru who had jumped in front of her had, and he gave a small cough before he fell headfirst onto the ground. His Jounin vest had been thrashed beyond recognition by one mere blow.

Itachi, whose spine had just been healed by Tobi, looked around. 

Itachi saw how his brother's lookalike, _Sai_, dropped everything and rushed towards Naruto, pushing his chest against Naruto's in a vain attempt to calm him down. Naruto tried to shook him off, but found he couldn't. Sai stubbornly clung on even through the front of his shirt was starting to disintegrate by the heat, as his skin soon would.

Itachi saw how his brother's teammate, Sakura, desperately willed a steady stream of blue chakra into Shikamaru's body while the blond female stood guard, tears glittering in her eyes. People didn't seem to fight as ferociously as before. They were scared. Scared of Naruto, scared of what had happened and scared of what would happen.

Itachi saw in front of him how his life and purpose slowly shattered into nothingness. 

Itachi stopped looking. Things weren't to his advantage anymore, and he didn't like that.

This is what he told himself.

But no longer could he stand the sight of Sasuke's dead body.

People ran away. The Akatsuki accepted the fact that too many had been lost and that the full power of the Kyuubi demon could not be subdued at this point. They ran away.

Moments later, Naruto's red chakra dripped down on the ground to reveal a burned and scarred body. He was probably in serious pain.

Sakura rushed over, trying desperately to force Naruto's skin to grow back to stop the blood from rushing out. The ground was damp with liquid. People relaxed as the enemy had fled, fell to the floor, exhausted, unconscious.

Flesh, blood and weapons too lay on the ground, to remind.

This battle was over for the moment. It was time to tend to the weak and injured.

* * *

The right one.

_Lee! _

Gaara snapped awake, and quickly realized he must have fainted.

He shot up, thinking he was surrounded with enemies. He was not. He was among friends. He couldn't spot a single Akatsuki cloak anywhere.He couldonlysee his comrades tending to each other.

His breathing started to feel restricted. He couldn't see Lee anywhere.

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(1) How many sexual innuendos in that sentence? Enough to make it funny. XP I'm such a loser, but yeah, this is my true humor. 

Review so that the next part will arrive sooner :D


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